This year we have been covering The Gospel According to Matthew. So far, we have covered the first sixteen chapters. Here is a summary of this Series:
In January, we covered the first seven chapters of Matthew.
Matthew chapters 1-2 showed the Jewish reader the prophetic background to Jesus' birth.
Matthew chapters 3-4 showed how Jesus began His ministry.
Matthew chapters 5-7 presented Jesus' Premiere Teaching.
We concluded the month with background on the Unaware Brain and conscious brain.
In February, we covered Offensive Spiritual Warfare background to begin the month.
Matthew chapters 8-9 showed unique examples of Offensive Spiritual Warfare from Jesus.
In March, we covered the next three chapters of Matthew.
Matthew chapter 10 showed Jesus commissioned His disciples to do the same Offensive Spiritual Warfare as what we saw Jesus did in Matthew chapters 8 and 9.
Matthew chapter 11 showed us Jesus stated previous generations would have responded to His Words and works, while Jesus' current generation did not.
Matthew chapter 12 PROVED Matthew chapter 11. Jesus repeatedly taught the Pharisees principles directly. With each teaching, those religious leaders of Jesus' time got WORSE. Eventually, those religious leaders commited the unforgiveable sin (blasphemy of the Holy Spirit) and Jesus HIMSELF declared INDIRECTLY those religious leaders were then seven times MORE EVIL BECAUSE of THEIR response to Jesus' teaching.
We concluded March with an original novella called, "The Brothers Karamazowsky". (This novella indirectly taught information that will be covered directly in May.)
In April, we covered Matthew chapters 13-16. We saw these chapters were really Matthew repeating the progression of the earlier chapters at a deeper level.
First Progression:
-Jesus taught truth directly (Matthew 5-7)
-Jesus did Offensive Spiritual Warfare (Matthew 8-9)
-Jesus commissioned His disciples (Matthew 10-11)
-Jesus' fame grew (Matthew 11-12)
-The Pharisees accused Jesus (Matthew 12).
Second Progression:
-Jesus taught truth indirectly to the masses (Matthew 13)
-Jesus did Offensive Spiritual Warfare with miracles involving the masses (Matthew 14)
-Jesus' fame grew to even Herod (Matthew 14)
-The Pharisees and the Torah Teachers accused Jesus indirectly...through His disciples (Matthew 15).
We saw Matthew 16 showed Jesus taught His disciples to focus on the spiritual instead of the physical through Offensive Spiritual Warfare, parables, interactions with the Pharisees and Sadducees, and direct Questions in preparation for this third period of His Ministry. In fact, now is the perfect time to address the timeframe of the events in Matthew...
JESUS THREE YEARS
Jesus had a three year Ministry on earth. Each year had a different focus...
The First Year of Jesus' Ministry was His Introduction. This included chapters 1-7.
The Second Year of Jesus' Ministry was His Year of Popularity. This included chapters 8-11.
The Third Year of Jesus' Ministry was His Year of Opposition. This included chapters 12 through the end of Matthew.
Another way to look at Matthew is according to the five-fold ministry...
FIVE-FOLD MINISTRY
Matthew chapters 1-4 showed Jesus as the Ultimate Apostle. He began the Ultimate Ministry.
Matthew chapters 5-7 showed Jesus as the Ultimate Teacher. We have seen Jesus did NOT stray from the blatant doctrine He presented during these three chapters.
Matthew chapters 8-15 showed Jesus as the Ultimate Evangelist. The masses were drawn to Him.
Matthew chapter 16 showed Jesus preparing His disciples for His departure. Jesus began explaining what would happen in the future. From His warning about the leaven of the Pharisees, to the sign of Jonah, to His declaration He would die...Jesus spoke prophecy.
Matthew chapter 16 began the section that showed Jesus was the Ultimate Prophet. It was at this point The Gospel According to Matthew got complicated.
We will begin May with Matthew chapter 17...and then we will cover extensive background.
Matthew chapters 18 and 19 are two crucial chapters of the New Testament. These chapters have the answers (HOW/WHY) church today is NOT creating the value needed to bring about God's Will on earth as it is done in Heaven.
However, people miss the solutions presented by Jesus because they lack the foundational doctrine. We will see most churches today do the OPPOSITE of Matthew chapters 18 and 19.
Next Post
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Matthew 16:21-28
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered Matthew 16:13-20. Here is the summary:
This story was consistent with the rest of the chapter...
Jesus taught about Himself and the disciples responsibilities based on a Question...in response to a physical answer the disciples had. Jesus ALWAYS looked to teach.
Jesus wants us to reason about the right things: the spiritual.
MATTHEW 16:21-28
"21 From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up."
(Peter just confessed Jesus was the Christ. Jesus told the disciples NOT to share this with anyone. Now, we see Jesus asked the question about Himself so He could discuss the rest of the plan...He must suffer many things, be killed, and resurrected.)
(This pronouncement by Jesus began the third period of His Ministry: the rejection of the Messiah. Matthew recorded Jesus mentioning this four more times and with each pronouncement He introduced a new feature. In tomorrow's post, we will look at this more. For today, realize Jesus was at this point focused on His death and resurrection. He had a specific time when this had to happen. I believe Jesus told His disciples to keep this information within the group, so He couldn't get too popular too quickly.)
"22 And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee."
(Peter just confessed Jesus as the Christ...the embodiment of Right and Just. Within five verses, Matthew showed Peter REBUKED Jesus. Peter told Jesus TO HIS FACE that Jesus was wrong!)
"23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men."
(Jesus called Peter "Satan". There is no way around this point. Jesus treated the most excellent disciple the harshest. Jesus referenced "stumbling-block"...the action Paul eventually wrote is the ONLY behavior we ought to judge. I believe THIS was an example of Offensive Spiritual Warfare.)
"24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds.
28 Verily I say unto you, there are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
(Jesus stated in order to get spiritual life, a person has to give up this physical life. Basically, letting God direct your actions through grace NOW is the exchange for getting eternal life.)
(As for verse 28, we will see this referenced an event in chapter 17...)
SUMMARY
Jesus taught truth directly (Matthew 5-7), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare (Matthew 8-9), commissioned His disciples (Matthew 10-11), His fame grew (Matthew 11-12), and the Pharisees accused Jesus (Matthew 12).
Jesus taught truth indirectly to the masses (Matthew 13), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare with miracles involving the masses (Matthew 14), His fame grew to even Herod (Matthew 14), and the Pharisees and the Torah Teachers accused Jesus indirectly...through His disciples (Matthew 15).
We saw Matthew 16 showed Jesus taught His disciples to focus on the spiritual instead of the physical through Offensive Spiritual Warfare, parables, interactions with the Pharisees and Sadducees, and direct Questions in preparation for this third period of His Ministry.
Next Post
This story was consistent with the rest of the chapter...
Jesus taught about Himself and the disciples responsibilities based on a Question...in response to a physical answer the disciples had. Jesus ALWAYS looked to teach.
Jesus wants us to reason about the right things: the spiritual.
MATTHEW 16:21-28
"21 From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up."
(Peter just confessed Jesus was the Christ. Jesus told the disciples NOT to share this with anyone. Now, we see Jesus asked the question about Himself so He could discuss the rest of the plan...He must suffer many things, be killed, and resurrected.)
(This pronouncement by Jesus began the third period of His Ministry: the rejection of the Messiah. Matthew recorded Jesus mentioning this four more times and with each pronouncement He introduced a new feature. In tomorrow's post, we will look at this more. For today, realize Jesus was at this point focused on His death and resurrection. He had a specific time when this had to happen. I believe Jesus told His disciples to keep this information within the group, so He couldn't get too popular too quickly.)
"22 And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee."
(Peter just confessed Jesus as the Christ...the embodiment of Right and Just. Within five verses, Matthew showed Peter REBUKED Jesus. Peter told Jesus TO HIS FACE that Jesus was wrong!)
"23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men."
(Jesus called Peter "Satan". There is no way around this point. Jesus treated the most excellent disciple the harshest. Jesus referenced "stumbling-block"...the action Paul eventually wrote is the ONLY behavior we ought to judge. I believe THIS was an example of Offensive Spiritual Warfare.)
"24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds.
28 Verily I say unto you, there are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
(Jesus stated in order to get spiritual life, a person has to give up this physical life. Basically, letting God direct your actions through grace NOW is the exchange for getting eternal life.)
(As for verse 28, we will see this referenced an event in chapter 17...)
SUMMARY
Jesus taught truth directly (Matthew 5-7), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare (Matthew 8-9), commissioned His disciples (Matthew 10-11), His fame grew (Matthew 11-12), and the Pharisees accused Jesus (Matthew 12).
Jesus taught truth indirectly to the masses (Matthew 13), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare with miracles involving the masses (Matthew 14), His fame grew to even Herod (Matthew 14), and the Pharisees and the Torah Teachers accused Jesus indirectly...through His disciples (Matthew 15).
We saw Matthew 16 showed Jesus taught His disciples to focus on the spiritual instead of the physical through Offensive Spiritual Warfare, parables, interactions with the Pharisees and Sadducees, and direct Questions in preparation for this third period of His Ministry.
Next Post
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Matthew 16:13-20
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered Matthew 16:5-12. Here is the summary:
Jesus taught about faith based on a parable and two miracles in response to a physical issue the disciples had. Jesus ALWAYS looked to teach.
Jesus wants us to reason about the right things: the spiritual.
MATTHEW 16:13-20
"13 Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of man is?"
(Here is more about Caesarea Philippi from Dake's Bible: This is a city about 25 miles north of Capernaum, originally called Paneas because of a temple erected there to Pan, god of flocks and all material substance. Herod the Great rebuilt it and also built a temple dedicated to Caesar. Philip, tetrarch of Iturea (Luke 3:1), enlarged it and named it Caesarea in honor of Tiberias Caesar, adding "Philippi" after himself to distinguish it from Caesarea on the sea coast. The ancient name was Dan (Genessis 14:14) or Laish (Judges 18:7)." Note: the KJV uses the word "coasts" in place of "parts" in Matthew 16:13. The Greek word is "parts".)
(In the novella, I quoted from Philip Jenkin's introduction to his new book that deals with this section...Jesus being fully man and fully God. Here is the excerpt from the novella...)
(Recently, a book by Philip Jenkins, titled "Jesus Wars", begins with this introduction:
"Jesus once asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?' They answered that all sorts of stories were circulating — that he was a prophet, perhaps Elijah or John the Baptist come back to earth. 'But,' he asked, 'Who do you say that I am?' Over the past two thousand years, Christians have formulated many different answers to this question. Yes, most believe Jesus was a human being, but at the same time he was also God, one of the three persons of the Trinity. He was both God and man."
"But when we have said that, we have raised more questions than we have answered, as the basic belief in Jesus Christ demands combining two utterly different categories of being."
"Such a transgression of boundaries puzzles and shocks believers of other faiths, especially strict monotheists such as Muslims and Jews. But even those Christians who accept the basic concept probably could not explain it with anything like the precision demanded by early church councils. By those rigorous standards, virtually all modern nonspecialists (including many clergy) would soon lapse into grave heresy."
Notice how these questions ask how Jesus could be fully God and fully man and why. If a person answers this question without the four God-given principles, he will contradict the Bible. The author went so far as to call it "grave heresy".)
"14 And they said, Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
(Matthew showed us what people of Jesus' time thought of Him during this time when His fame grew. John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah were the prophets people of Jesus' time thought were able to do what Jesus' did. Remember, Jesus said John was "Elijah".)
"15 He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am?"
(Jesus then asked His students who they thought He was...because they knew He wasn't John, Elijah, or Jeremiah.)
"16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
(Simon stated Jesus was the Christ. Notice, Simon's confession not only stated who Jesus was..it stated Jesus' relationship to God the Father. Simon stated Jesus was a separate and unique Person from God the Father.)
"17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven."
(Revelation is ALWAYS by the Spirit, NOT by the flesh. Jesus stated Simon was blessed because God had to be flowing through him because this revelation could ONLY be known by the Spirit. Also, Simon was the oldest, so it wouldn't have seemed unusual for him to speak first.)
"18 And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
(Jesus' said "And I also say..." which means Jesus agreed with what Simon said and added to it. This qualified as an admission from Jesus He was the Son of God.)
(In this verse, "Peter" means "little rock" of "fragment of rock"...like a rock chip off a bigger rock. While "rock" in this verse means "immovable stone"...huge rock...like the rock of Gibraltar. Remember, Jesus was the stone the builders threw away that became the cornerstone...the foundation of the church.)
(Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter in remembrance of his confession Jesus was the Christ. The rock Jesus will build His church on is NOT Peter...it is the confession Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the foundation, not any other person.)
"19 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
(Joel Swokowski helped me with this verse. Jesus was the Christ. This was a spiritual truth. Peter stated this spiritual truth in a physical manner. Peter's statement did NOT make the spiritual truth exist. It existed before Peter stated it. Peter made the physical line up with the spiritual. Verse 19 was written the same way in the original language.)
(Jesus stated we ought to bind on earth that which is already bound in heaven...and we ought to loose on earth that which is already loosed in heaven. We ought to make the physical consistent with the spiritual. This justifies God. This makes it a responsibility for us.)
(In "Velvet Elvis", Rob Bell took this scripture and stated it allows us to bind and loose whatever we want...and God will follow us. We are justified! This makes it a benefit for us and a responsibility for God. Notice, the correct interpretation would justify God AND fit the context...which was Peter's confession Jesus was the Christ.)
"20 Then charged he the disciples that they should tell no man that he was the Christ."
(Jesus specifically told his disciples NOT to tell anyone that He was the Christ. Jesus did the opposite of what most ministers would do today. He intentionally kept the direct truth away from everyone OTHER than His students.)
SUMMARY
This story was consistent with the rest of the chapter...
Jesus taught about Himself and the disciples responsibilities based on a Question...in response to a physical answer the disciples had. Jesus ALWAYS looked to teach.
Jesus wants us to reason about the right things: the spiritual.
Next Post
Jesus taught about faith based on a parable and two miracles in response to a physical issue the disciples had. Jesus ALWAYS looked to teach.
Jesus wants us to reason about the right things: the spiritual.
MATTHEW 16:13-20
"13 Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of man is?"
(Here is more about Caesarea Philippi from Dake's Bible: This is a city about 25 miles north of Capernaum, originally called Paneas because of a temple erected there to Pan, god of flocks and all material substance. Herod the Great rebuilt it and also built a temple dedicated to Caesar. Philip, tetrarch of Iturea (Luke 3:1), enlarged it and named it Caesarea in honor of Tiberias Caesar, adding "Philippi" after himself to distinguish it from Caesarea on the sea coast. The ancient name was Dan (Genessis 14:14) or Laish (Judges 18:7)." Note: the KJV uses the word "coasts" in place of "parts" in Matthew 16:13. The Greek word is "parts".)
(In the novella, I quoted from Philip Jenkin's introduction to his new book that deals with this section...Jesus being fully man and fully God. Here is the excerpt from the novella...)
(Recently, a book by Philip Jenkins, titled "Jesus Wars", begins with this introduction:
"Jesus once asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?' They answered that all sorts of stories were circulating — that he was a prophet, perhaps Elijah or John the Baptist come back to earth. 'But,' he asked, 'Who do you say that I am?' Over the past two thousand years, Christians have formulated many different answers to this question. Yes, most believe Jesus was a human being, but at the same time he was also God, one of the three persons of the Trinity. He was both God and man."
"But when we have said that, we have raised more questions than we have answered, as the basic belief in Jesus Christ demands combining two utterly different categories of being."
"Such a transgression of boundaries puzzles and shocks believers of other faiths, especially strict monotheists such as Muslims and Jews. But even those Christians who accept the basic concept probably could not explain it with anything like the precision demanded by early church councils. By those rigorous standards, virtually all modern nonspecialists (including many clergy) would soon lapse into grave heresy."
Notice how these questions ask how Jesus could be fully God and fully man and why. If a person answers this question without the four God-given principles, he will contradict the Bible. The author went so far as to call it "grave heresy".)
"14 And they said, Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
(Matthew showed us what people of Jesus' time thought of Him during this time when His fame grew. John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah were the prophets people of Jesus' time thought were able to do what Jesus' did. Remember, Jesus said John was "Elijah".)
"15 He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am?"
(Jesus then asked His students who they thought He was...because they knew He wasn't John, Elijah, or Jeremiah.)
"16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
(Simon stated Jesus was the Christ. Notice, Simon's confession not only stated who Jesus was..it stated Jesus' relationship to God the Father. Simon stated Jesus was a separate and unique Person from God the Father.)
"17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven."
(Revelation is ALWAYS by the Spirit, NOT by the flesh. Jesus stated Simon was blessed because God had to be flowing through him because this revelation could ONLY be known by the Spirit. Also, Simon was the oldest, so it wouldn't have seemed unusual for him to speak first.)
"18 And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
(Jesus' said "And I also say..." which means Jesus agreed with what Simon said and added to it. This qualified as an admission from Jesus He was the Son of God.)
(In this verse, "Peter" means "little rock" of "fragment of rock"...like a rock chip off a bigger rock. While "rock" in this verse means "immovable stone"...huge rock...like the rock of Gibraltar. Remember, Jesus was the stone the builders threw away that became the cornerstone...the foundation of the church.)
(Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter in remembrance of his confession Jesus was the Christ. The rock Jesus will build His church on is NOT Peter...it is the confession Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the foundation, not any other person.)
"19 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
(Joel Swokowski helped me with this verse. Jesus was the Christ. This was a spiritual truth. Peter stated this spiritual truth in a physical manner. Peter's statement did NOT make the spiritual truth exist. It existed before Peter stated it. Peter made the physical line up with the spiritual. Verse 19 was written the same way in the original language.)
(Jesus stated we ought to bind on earth that which is already bound in heaven...and we ought to loose on earth that which is already loosed in heaven. We ought to make the physical consistent with the spiritual. This justifies God. This makes it a responsibility for us.)
(In "Velvet Elvis", Rob Bell took this scripture and stated it allows us to bind and loose whatever we want...and God will follow us. We are justified! This makes it a benefit for us and a responsibility for God. Notice, the correct interpretation would justify God AND fit the context...which was Peter's confession Jesus was the Christ.)
"20 Then charged he the disciples that they should tell no man that he was the Christ."
(Jesus specifically told his disciples NOT to tell anyone that He was the Christ. Jesus did the opposite of what most ministers would do today. He intentionally kept the direct truth away from everyone OTHER than His students.)
SUMMARY
This story was consistent with the rest of the chapter...
Jesus taught about Himself and the disciples responsibilities based on a Question...in response to a physical answer the disciples had. Jesus ALWAYS looked to teach.
Jesus wants us to reason about the right things: the spiritual.
Next Post
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Matthew 16:5-12
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we began Matthew 16. Here is the summary:
The Pharisees and Sadducees united over trying to destroy Jesus. They sought out Jesus.
They asked Jesus for a sign. This act of asking for a sign PROVED they were leaders of an evil and adulterous generation. They PROVED they did not know how God worked.
Jesus removed Himself from these people.
MATTHEW 16:5-12
"5 And the disciples came to the other side and forgot to take bread."
(Physical issue: no bread in boat.)
"6 And Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
(Jesus used the physical issue to teach a spiritual truth. The spiritual truth was the disciples ought to always be aware of the "sin" of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Remember, we saw leaven was sin over man-made doctrine...specifically, not understanding doctrine and justifying one's self. This "leaven" can creep in and take over ALL of a person's belief...just like a little leaven raises the whole loaf of bread.)
"7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, We took no bread."
(The disciples REASONED about a physical issue.)
"8 And Jesus perceiving it said, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have no bread?"
(I have gone off about this before...Joyce Meyers changed this verse in "Battlefield of the Mind"! She ended it after the word "reason"! She changed the Bible in order to use it to make the point we shouldn't reason at all!!!!!)
(Actually, Jesus asked WHYthey reasoned about the physical.)
"9 Do ye not yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?"
(Jesus WANTED them to reason! Otherwise, WHY did Jesus explain this?)
(He asked WHY they were of little faith. Faith is built on experience and understanding. Jesus first dealt with experience. He reminded them they had experience of TWO miraculous feedings, yet they were concerned Jesus couldn't supply for twelve!!!! Jesus attempted to build their faith by experience. Remember, we saw Jesus initiated the second miraculous feeding just prior to encountering the Pharisees and Sadducees. Now, we can see Jesus did this to increase the faith of the disciples...and teach us to reason about the right things...the spiritual.)
"11 How is it that ye do not perceive that I spake not to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
(Next, Jesus asked about understanding...WHY they didn't perceive the spiritual truth.)
"12 Then understood they that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
(THEN, the disciples UNDERSTOOD!)
SUMMARY
Jesus taught about faith based on a parable and two miracles in response to a physical issue the disciples had. Jesus ALWAYS looked to teach.
Jesus wants us to reason about the right things: the spiritual.
Next Post
The Pharisees and Sadducees united over trying to destroy Jesus. They sought out Jesus.
They asked Jesus for a sign. This act of asking for a sign PROVED they were leaders of an evil and adulterous generation. They PROVED they did not know how God worked.
Jesus removed Himself from these people.
MATTHEW 16:5-12
"5 And the disciples came to the other side and forgot to take bread."
(Physical issue: no bread in boat.)
"6 And Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
(Jesus used the physical issue to teach a spiritual truth. The spiritual truth was the disciples ought to always be aware of the "sin" of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Remember, we saw leaven was sin over man-made doctrine...specifically, not understanding doctrine and justifying one's self. This "leaven" can creep in and take over ALL of a person's belief...just like a little leaven raises the whole loaf of bread.)
"7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, We took no bread."
(The disciples REASONED about a physical issue.)
"8 And Jesus perceiving it said, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have no bread?"
(I have gone off about this before...Joyce Meyers changed this verse in "Battlefield of the Mind"! She ended it after the word "reason"! She changed the Bible in order to use it to make the point we shouldn't reason at all!!!!!)
(Actually, Jesus asked WHYthey reasoned about the physical.)
"9 Do ye not yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?"
(Jesus WANTED them to reason! Otherwise, WHY did Jesus explain this?)
(He asked WHY they were of little faith. Faith is built on experience and understanding. Jesus first dealt with experience. He reminded them they had experience of TWO miraculous feedings, yet they were concerned Jesus couldn't supply for twelve!!!! Jesus attempted to build their faith by experience. Remember, we saw Jesus initiated the second miraculous feeding just prior to encountering the Pharisees and Sadducees. Now, we can see Jesus did this to increase the faith of the disciples...and teach us to reason about the right things...the spiritual.)
"11 How is it that ye do not perceive that I spake not to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
(Next, Jesus asked about understanding...WHY they didn't perceive the spiritual truth.)
"12 Then understood they that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
(THEN, the disciples UNDERSTOOD!)
SUMMARY
Jesus taught about faith based on a parable and two miracles in response to a physical issue the disciples had. Jesus ALWAYS looked to teach.
Jesus wants us to reason about the right things: the spiritual.
Next Post
Monday, April 26, 2010
Matthew 16:1-4
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered Matthew 15:29-39 which completed Matthew chapter 15. Here is the summary:
Matthew chapter 15 ends with Jesus doing more Offensive Spiritual Warfare and initiating the second miraculous feeding of the masses.
It looks like Jesus intentionally wanted His disciples to get more faith (Understanding and Experience) before the next confrontation...
MATTHEW 16:1-4
"1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and trying him asked him to show them a sign from heaven."
(Remember, the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus in His Words in Matthew 12. Now, they want to trap Him in His Works...miracles.)
"2 But he answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the heaven is red.
3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the heaven is red and lowering. Ye know how to discern the face of the heaven; but ye cannot discern the signs of the times.
(Jesus essentially handled this request through a parable! He directed them to a physical example to illustrate a spiritual point. The Pharisees justified themselves. Jesus knew we ought to justify God and realized we were responsible for our response. Who is in charge of the weather? Do people initiate the weather? The weather is in God's control and we learn how to respond to it through MODELING! Cause #1: Sky is red in the evening. Effect #1: fair weather tomorrow. Cause #2: Sky is red in morning. Effect #2: Foul weather today. Jesus BLATANTLY asked WHY people who were able to model physical things could not model spiritual things. The Answer? It is a statement of the will of the individual. The individual is PROVING how congruous their Unaware Brain is with their conscious brain. This is the SAME message as what we saw in Matthew 13 when Jesus "suddenly" decided to ONLY speak in parables.)
"4 An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of Jonah. And he left them, and departed."
(Jesus said an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. The only way to understand this is to do a quick review of Offensive Spiritual Warfare.)
OFFENSIVE SPIRITUAL WARFARE REVIEW
Here is what we saw in the post that gave background during this Series:
1. Offensive Spiritual Warfare is done with WORDS and SENTENCES.
This is NOT something that is done PHYSICALLY. This is something that is done as a statement of the will.
2. Offensive Spiritual Warfare is done according to the faith (Understanding and Experience) of the individual.
Both the person stating their will AND the person who is benefiting have to believe it will work.
3. The statement of the will has to be done over things that don't have a will
The weather, inanimate objects, and animals don't have a will. Also, beings that have been judged don't have a will. People have a will. However, if justice is against a person, they can be dealt with in RESPONSE to Justice. Offensive Spiritual Warfare does NOT work on people who are NOT willing AND/OR NOT deserving of losing a value through Justice.
4. Offensive Spiritual Warfare is initiated by the Holy Spirit
People don't initiate Offensive Spiritual Warfare. The goal of Spiritual Warfare is to bring about God's Will...to create, even if it requires equalling out Justice. The ONLY way to make sure Offensive Spiritual Warfare ALWAYS accomplishes its goal is for it to be initiated by God through the Holy Spirit. People who SCHEDULE sessions to do Offensive Spiritual Warfare are actually doing a work of the flesh...
With what we know about Offensive Spiritual Warfare, we know (#4) it is initiated by the Holy Spirit. Either the Holy Spirit sees the need or a person in need draws on the Holy Spirit through the person performing Offensive Spiritual Warfare. Now we see the Pharisees asking for a sign fits neither of these Biblical requirements. In fact, Jesus went further by saying that people who attempt to initiate Offensives Spiritual Warfare in this manner are members of an evil and adulterous generation.
Now we see HOW/WHY Jesus two weather examples fit with Offensive Spiritual Warfare. People don't initiate the weather...they respond. Jesus gave an example that INDIRECTLY pointed these people to truth about Offensive Spiritual Warfare!
Furthermore, look again at #2...
Offensive Spiritual Warfare is done ACCORDING to the faith of the individuals. Faith is a cause and the successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare is the effect.
The Pharisees desired successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare as a cause...and their faith was going to be an effect of the successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare!!!
This was the OPPOSITE of God's way. This was EVIL and ADULTEROUS...which are both also the OPPOSITE of God's way.
How many people today speak the OPPOSITE of God's way when it comes to Spiritual Warfare, grace, faith, love, marriage, Fellowship...?
Jesus ended with a prophecy...the people will get the sign of Jonah. Jesus will die and rise again on the third day...like Jonah.
This was the second time Jesus mentioned this sign. He said the same thing in Matthew 12:40...just before He decided to stop speaking truth directly to the Pharisees.
The first time Jesus mentioned the sign of Jonah, it was at the conclusion of several interactions with the Pharisees...each of which resulted in the Pharisees getting worse. This time, it was the first interaction. The Pharisees were continuing to get worse...
Notice, Jesus again left the masses...
SUMMARY
The Pharisees and Sadducees united over trying to destroy Jesus. They sought out Jesus.
They asked Jesus for a sign. This act of asking for a sign PROVED they were leaders of an evil and adulterous generation. They PROVED they did not know how God worked.
Jesus removed Himself from these people.
Next Post
Matthew chapter 15 ends with Jesus doing more Offensive Spiritual Warfare and initiating the second miraculous feeding of the masses.
It looks like Jesus intentionally wanted His disciples to get more faith (Understanding and Experience) before the next confrontation...
MATTHEW 16:1-4
"1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and trying him asked him to show them a sign from heaven."
(Remember, the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus in His Words in Matthew 12. Now, they want to trap Him in His Works...miracles.)
"2 But he answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the heaven is red.
3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the heaven is red and lowering. Ye know how to discern the face of the heaven; but ye cannot discern the signs of the times.
(Jesus essentially handled this request through a parable! He directed them to a physical example to illustrate a spiritual point. The Pharisees justified themselves. Jesus knew we ought to justify God and realized we were responsible for our response. Who is in charge of the weather? Do people initiate the weather? The weather is in God's control and we learn how to respond to it through MODELING! Cause #1: Sky is red in the evening. Effect #1: fair weather tomorrow. Cause #2: Sky is red in morning. Effect #2: Foul weather today. Jesus BLATANTLY asked WHY people who were able to model physical things could not model spiritual things. The Answer? It is a statement of the will of the individual. The individual is PROVING how congruous their Unaware Brain is with their conscious brain. This is the SAME message as what we saw in Matthew 13 when Jesus "suddenly" decided to ONLY speak in parables.)
"4 An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of Jonah. And he left them, and departed."
(Jesus said an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. The only way to understand this is to do a quick review of Offensive Spiritual Warfare.)
OFFENSIVE SPIRITUAL WARFARE REVIEW
Here is what we saw in the post that gave background during this Series:
1. Offensive Spiritual Warfare is done with WORDS and SENTENCES.
This is NOT something that is done PHYSICALLY. This is something that is done as a statement of the will.
2. Offensive Spiritual Warfare is done according to the faith (Understanding and Experience) of the individual.
Both the person stating their will AND the person who is benefiting have to believe it will work.
3. The statement of the will has to be done over things that don't have a will
The weather, inanimate objects, and animals don't have a will. Also, beings that have been judged don't have a will. People have a will. However, if justice is against a person, they can be dealt with in RESPONSE to Justice. Offensive Spiritual Warfare does NOT work on people who are NOT willing AND/OR NOT deserving of losing a value through Justice.
4. Offensive Spiritual Warfare is initiated by the Holy Spirit
People don't initiate Offensive Spiritual Warfare. The goal of Spiritual Warfare is to bring about God's Will...to create, even if it requires equalling out Justice. The ONLY way to make sure Offensive Spiritual Warfare ALWAYS accomplishes its goal is for it to be initiated by God through the Holy Spirit. People who SCHEDULE sessions to do Offensive Spiritual Warfare are actually doing a work of the flesh...
With what we know about Offensive Spiritual Warfare, we know (#4) it is initiated by the Holy Spirit. Either the Holy Spirit sees the need or a person in need draws on the Holy Spirit through the person performing Offensive Spiritual Warfare. Now we see the Pharisees asking for a sign fits neither of these Biblical requirements. In fact, Jesus went further by saying that people who attempt to initiate Offensives Spiritual Warfare in this manner are members of an evil and adulterous generation.
Now we see HOW/WHY Jesus two weather examples fit with Offensive Spiritual Warfare. People don't initiate the weather...they respond. Jesus gave an example that INDIRECTLY pointed these people to truth about Offensive Spiritual Warfare!
Furthermore, look again at #2...
Offensive Spiritual Warfare is done ACCORDING to the faith of the individuals. Faith is a cause and the successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare is the effect.
The Pharisees desired successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare as a cause...and their faith was going to be an effect of the successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare!!!
This was the OPPOSITE of God's way. This was EVIL and ADULTEROUS...which are both also the OPPOSITE of God's way.
How many people today speak the OPPOSITE of God's way when it comes to Spiritual Warfare, grace, faith, love, marriage, Fellowship...?
Jesus ended with a prophecy...the people will get the sign of Jonah. Jesus will die and rise again on the third day...like Jonah.
This was the second time Jesus mentioned this sign. He said the same thing in Matthew 12:40...just before He decided to stop speaking truth directly to the Pharisees.
The first time Jesus mentioned the sign of Jonah, it was at the conclusion of several interactions with the Pharisees...each of which resulted in the Pharisees getting worse. This time, it was the first interaction. The Pharisees were continuing to get worse...
Notice, Jesus again left the masses...
SUMMARY
The Pharisees and Sadducees united over trying to destroy Jesus. They sought out Jesus.
They asked Jesus for a sign. This act of asking for a sign PROVED they were leaders of an evil and adulterous generation. They PROVED they did not know how God worked.
Jesus removed Himself from these people.
Next Post
Friday, April 23, 2010
Matthew 15:29-39
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered Matthew 15:21-29. Here is the summary:
Matthew began his third feedback loop in Matthew 15. He presented a story of Jesus teaching and performing Offensive Spiritual Warfare to a deeper level.
A woman went head to head with Jesus and got what she wanted because she supplied the Right HOW (worship) and the Right WHY (dogs indirectly get bread...they get the crumbs of the bread meant for the children)...and she did NOT get frustrated when Jesus didn't give her a direct answer.
Jesus intentionally held Himself back by ONLY supplying Right WHAT's.
Do you get frustrated when you don't get a direct answer...or do you intentionally choose to think more?
MATTHEW 15:29-39
"29 And Jesus departed thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there."
(This is where we left off...again. Jesus removing Himself from the crowd.)
"30 And there came unto him great multitudes, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and they cast them down at this feet; and he healed them:
31 insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, and lame walking, and the blind seeing: and they glorified the God of Israel."
(The crowds found Him and got healed...more Offensive Spiritual Warfare.)
"32 And Jesus called unto him his disciples, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat: and I would not send them away fasting, lest haply they faint on the way."
(We saw something like this earlier, however, this time Jesus introduced the issue and brought it to His disciples. Perhaps Jesus was waiting for His disciples to bring this up during the past three days. Maybe Jesus wanted to see what they had learned since the last time.)
"33 And the disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so many loaves in a desert place as to fill so great a multitude?"
(Apparently, the disciples treated this like a new event instead of drawing on their experience. Jesus was right to repeat this because they didn't get it yet.)
"34 And Jesus said unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few small fishes.
35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;
36 and he took the seven loaves and the fishes; and he gave thanks and brake, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.
37 And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full.
38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, besides women and children."
(This story sounds like the previous one, except the quantities are different.)
"39 And he sent away the multitudes, and entered into the boat, and came into the borders of Magadan."
(Last time, Jesus sent the disciples into a boat and then He stayed to disperse the crowd. This time they all sent the crowds away and then they all got into the boat.)
SUMMARY
Matthew chapter 15 ends with Jesus doing more Offensive Spiritual Warfare and initiating the second miraculous feeding of the masses.
It looks like Jesus intentionally wanted His disciples to get more faith (Understanding and Experience) before the next confrontation...
Next Post
Matthew began his third feedback loop in Matthew 15. He presented a story of Jesus teaching and performing Offensive Spiritual Warfare to a deeper level.
A woman went head to head with Jesus and got what she wanted because she supplied the Right HOW (worship) and the Right WHY (dogs indirectly get bread...they get the crumbs of the bread meant for the children)...and she did NOT get frustrated when Jesus didn't give her a direct answer.
Jesus intentionally held Himself back by ONLY supplying Right WHAT's.
Do you get frustrated when you don't get a direct answer...or do you intentionally choose to think more?
MATTHEW 15:29-39
"29 And Jesus departed thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there."
(This is where we left off...again. Jesus removing Himself from the crowd.)
"30 And there came unto him great multitudes, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and they cast them down at this feet; and he healed them:
31 insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, and lame walking, and the blind seeing: and they glorified the God of Israel."
(The crowds found Him and got healed...more Offensive Spiritual Warfare.)
"32 And Jesus called unto him his disciples, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat: and I would not send them away fasting, lest haply they faint on the way."
(We saw something like this earlier, however, this time Jesus introduced the issue and brought it to His disciples. Perhaps Jesus was waiting for His disciples to bring this up during the past three days. Maybe Jesus wanted to see what they had learned since the last time.)
"33 And the disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so many loaves in a desert place as to fill so great a multitude?"
(Apparently, the disciples treated this like a new event instead of drawing on their experience. Jesus was right to repeat this because they didn't get it yet.)
"34 And Jesus said unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few small fishes.
35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;
36 and he took the seven loaves and the fishes; and he gave thanks and brake, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.
37 And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full.
38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, besides women and children."
(This story sounds like the previous one, except the quantities are different.)
"39 And he sent away the multitudes, and entered into the boat, and came into the borders of Magadan."
(Last time, Jesus sent the disciples into a boat and then He stayed to disperse the crowd. This time they all sent the crowds away and then they all got into the boat.)
SUMMARY
Matthew chapter 15 ends with Jesus doing more Offensive Spiritual Warfare and initiating the second miraculous feeding of the masses.
It looks like Jesus intentionally wanted His disciples to get more faith (Understanding and Experience) before the next confrontation...
Next Post
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Matthew 15:21-29
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we began Matthew 15. Here is the summary:
It looks like Matthew presented his own two dimensional model...
Jesus taught truth directly (Matthew 5-7), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare (Matthew 8-9), commissioned His disciples (Matthew 10-11), His fame grew (Matthew 11-12), and the Pharisees accused Jesus (Matthew 12).
Jesus taught truth indirectly to the masses (Matthew 13), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare with miracles involving the masses (Matthew 14), His fame grew to even Herod (Matthew 14), and the Pharisees and the Torah Teachers accused Jesus indirectly...through His disciples (Matthew 15).
Sounds like it was time for Matthew's presentation of the third dimension...Jesus teaching and performing Offensive Spiritual Warfare to a deeper degree.
Are you ready to go deeper?
MATTHEW 15:21-29
"21 And Jesus went out thence, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon."
(From the previous section, we saw Jesus went through the dimensional models with the Pharisees and Torah Teachers...and then withdrew to the cities He had previously cursed for not recognizing His Words and works. Jesus wasn't giving up on these cities!)
"22 And behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon."
(Notice the woman CAME OUT FROM those borders. Was it because those cities still suffered from unbelief and the woman's act of leaving the borders was not only an expression of her faith, but also necessary in order to retain her faith?...to get away from the surrounding unbelief?)
"23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us."
(This is AWESOME! Jesus did NOT answer her a word! Jesus had already stated those cities were in unbelief. Apparently, her coming out to Jesus was NOT enough...it wasn't enough of an expression of belief and/or intent!)
(Jesus' students told Jesus to send her away because she was focused on the disciples to help her! She was beginning to show she really wanted this and believes it was possible...to the point she believed the disciples could do Offensive Spiritual Warfare. In fact, it looked like she believed it more than the disciples because the disciples did NOT heal the daughter.)
"24 But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
(Jesus answered with a Right WHAT. He restated His Objective stated from the beginning of His Ministry. Jesus was focused. Notice, Jesus was NOT saying He wouldn't heal the daughter. He just restated His Mission...)
"25 But she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me."
(The woman WORSHIPPED Him BY saying "LORD". Notice, this did not say, "But she came and worshipped him, AND saying, Lord help me." Her SAYING "Lord" WAS WORSHIP.)
"26 And he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs."
(Was Jesus being "annoying"?...difficult?...obnoxious? Take a moment and state your will about His actions.)
(Jesus' response to WORSHIP was to give another Right WHAT. It was NOT perfect to take provision meant for young humans and cast it to animals. Jews referred to Gentiles as "dogs". So, Jesus answer indirectly pointed out she was a Gentile.)
(The important point was Jesus had NOT judged this woman or valued her. He spoke INDIRECTLY. He actually gave her the opportunity to CHOOSE to get offended. She could project Jesus called her something less than human and less than important. If she had responded this way, it would NOT have been Jesus' fault...it would have been completely her fault.)
(Taking this one step deeper...Jesus seemed to intentionally hold Himself back. He was MUCH MORE intelligent than this. He could have supplied a Right HOW/WHY and devastated this woman. However, He intentionally spoke indirectly by limiting Himself to ONLY a Right WHAT. Her response to his first Right WHAT was a Right WHAT. Jesus then responded with ANOTHER Right WHAT. How long was this going to go on? What would it take for someone to be RIGHT?)
"27 But she said, Yea, Lord: for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."
(Look closely at what she did...she agreed with Jesus' Right WHAT and supplied a Right WHY (everything after the "for...") that would lead to her getting WHAT she requested!!!!!)
(She made a request with a Right WHAT. Jesus responded with a Right WHAT. She appeared to take it as a "counter" from Jesus...as a denial. So, she stated a Right WHAT...and did it with worship (Right HOW?). Apparently that wasn't enough for Jesus. Jesus responded with a Right WHAT. This time, she didn't take it as a "counter"...she "weedkillered" Jesus' Right WHAT! She AGREED and then came up with a Right WHY that resolved the apparent contradiction..."dogs" do get the children's bread WITHOUT it being "cast" to them. Now, what was Jesus going to do?)
"28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour."
(Did this woman "outthink" Jesus? No...He was trying to find out her faith...her understanding and experience. She drew from experience and presented it with understanding. Jesus intentionally held Himself back by being indirect and NOT stating the HOW/WHY...NOT stating principles directly. She didn't get offended, frustrated, or despondent. She took her game up in response to Jesus' prodding.)
(Take a moment today and meditate on this fact: A WOMAN went head to head with Jesus, and rather than her tell Jesus He was wrong, she responded by taking her game up and intentionally thinking MORE. How did Peter respond to Jesus when He did the same thing?)
"29 And Jesus departed thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there."
(Again, this loop ended with Jesus withdrawing from the people...)
SUMMARY
Matthew began his third feedback loop in Matthew 15. He presented a story of Jesus teaching and performing Offensive Spiritual Warfare to a deeper level.
A woman went head to head with Jesus and got what she wanted because she supplied the Right HOW (worship) and the Right WHY (dogs indirectly get bread...they get the crumbs of the bread meant for the children)...and she did NOT get frustrated when Jesus didn't give her a direct answer.
Jesus intentionally held Himself back by ONLY supplying Right WHAT's.
Do you get frustrated when you don't get a direct answer...or do you intentionally choose to think more?
Next Post
It looks like Matthew presented his own two dimensional model...
Jesus taught truth directly (Matthew 5-7), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare (Matthew 8-9), commissioned His disciples (Matthew 10-11), His fame grew (Matthew 11-12), and the Pharisees accused Jesus (Matthew 12).
Jesus taught truth indirectly to the masses (Matthew 13), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare with miracles involving the masses (Matthew 14), His fame grew to even Herod (Matthew 14), and the Pharisees and the Torah Teachers accused Jesus indirectly...through His disciples (Matthew 15).
Sounds like it was time for Matthew's presentation of the third dimension...Jesus teaching and performing Offensive Spiritual Warfare to a deeper degree.
Are you ready to go deeper?
MATTHEW 15:21-29
"21 And Jesus went out thence, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon."
(From the previous section, we saw Jesus went through the dimensional models with the Pharisees and Torah Teachers...and then withdrew to the cities He had previously cursed for not recognizing His Words and works. Jesus wasn't giving up on these cities!)
"22 And behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon."
(Notice the woman CAME OUT FROM those borders. Was it because those cities still suffered from unbelief and the woman's act of leaving the borders was not only an expression of her faith, but also necessary in order to retain her faith?...to get away from the surrounding unbelief?)
"23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us."
(This is AWESOME! Jesus did NOT answer her a word! Jesus had already stated those cities were in unbelief. Apparently, her coming out to Jesus was NOT enough...it wasn't enough of an expression of belief and/or intent!)
(Jesus' students told Jesus to send her away because she was focused on the disciples to help her! She was beginning to show she really wanted this and believes it was possible...to the point she believed the disciples could do Offensive Spiritual Warfare. In fact, it looked like she believed it more than the disciples because the disciples did NOT heal the daughter.)
"24 But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
(Jesus answered with a Right WHAT. He restated His Objective stated from the beginning of His Ministry. Jesus was focused. Notice, Jesus was NOT saying He wouldn't heal the daughter. He just restated His Mission...)
"25 But she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me."
(The woman WORSHIPPED Him BY saying "LORD". Notice, this did not say, "But she came and worshipped him, AND saying, Lord help me." Her SAYING "Lord" WAS WORSHIP.)
"26 And he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs."
(Was Jesus being "annoying"?...difficult?...obnoxious? Take a moment and state your will about His actions.)
(Jesus' response to WORSHIP was to give another Right WHAT. It was NOT perfect to take provision meant for young humans and cast it to animals. Jews referred to Gentiles as "dogs". So, Jesus answer indirectly pointed out she was a Gentile.)
(The important point was Jesus had NOT judged this woman or valued her. He spoke INDIRECTLY. He actually gave her the opportunity to CHOOSE to get offended. She could project Jesus called her something less than human and less than important. If she had responded this way, it would NOT have been Jesus' fault...it would have been completely her fault.)
(Taking this one step deeper...Jesus seemed to intentionally hold Himself back. He was MUCH MORE intelligent than this. He could have supplied a Right HOW/WHY and devastated this woman. However, He intentionally spoke indirectly by limiting Himself to ONLY a Right WHAT. Her response to his first Right WHAT was a Right WHAT. Jesus then responded with ANOTHER Right WHAT. How long was this going to go on? What would it take for someone to be RIGHT?)
"27 But she said, Yea, Lord: for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."
(Look closely at what she did...she agreed with Jesus' Right WHAT and supplied a Right WHY (everything after the "for...") that would lead to her getting WHAT she requested!!!!!)
(She made a request with a Right WHAT. Jesus responded with a Right WHAT. She appeared to take it as a "counter" from Jesus...as a denial. So, she stated a Right WHAT...and did it with worship (Right HOW?). Apparently that wasn't enough for Jesus. Jesus responded with a Right WHAT. This time, she didn't take it as a "counter"...she "weedkillered" Jesus' Right WHAT! She AGREED and then came up with a Right WHY that resolved the apparent contradiction..."dogs" do get the children's bread WITHOUT it being "cast" to them. Now, what was Jesus going to do?)
"28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour."
(Did this woman "outthink" Jesus? No...He was trying to find out her faith...her understanding and experience. She drew from experience and presented it with understanding. Jesus intentionally held Himself back by being indirect and NOT stating the HOW/WHY...NOT stating principles directly. She didn't get offended, frustrated, or despondent. She took her game up in response to Jesus' prodding.)
(Take a moment today and meditate on this fact: A WOMAN went head to head with Jesus, and rather than her tell Jesus He was wrong, she responded by taking her game up and intentionally thinking MORE. How did Peter respond to Jesus when He did the same thing?)
"29 And Jesus departed thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there."
(Again, this loop ended with Jesus withdrawing from the people...)
SUMMARY
Matthew began his third feedback loop in Matthew 15. He presented a story of Jesus teaching and performing Offensive Spiritual Warfare to a deeper level.
A woman went head to head with Jesus and got what she wanted because she supplied the Right HOW (worship) and the Right WHY (dogs indirectly get bread...they get the crumbs of the bread meant for the children)...and she did NOT get frustrated when Jesus didn't give her a direct answer.
Jesus intentionally held Himself back by ONLY supplying Right WHAT's.
Do you get frustrated when you don't get a direct answer...or do you intentionally choose to think more?
Next Post
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Matthew 15:1-21
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered Matthew 14:23-36 which completed Matthew chapter 14. Here is the summary:
Jesus had commissioned the disciples. Jesus continued to train His disciples by seeing how they reacted to another storm while in the boat and Him having walked on water.
Peter's act of leadership inspired the rest of the disciples to worship Jesus as the Son of God.
The people they encountered when they got out of the boat also worshipped Jesus as the Son of God.
Matthew chapter 14 showed Jesus' fame increased to the point people were now recognizing Him as the Son of God...as someone with the ability to do miracles.
MATTHEW 15
"1 Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying,
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread."
(Remember, "scribes" means Torah Teachers.)
(Now, Pharisees and Torah Teachers came to Jesus and accused His disciples. Notice how this ramped up. Jesus did not look for these leaders, they sought out Him. Also, the Torah Teachers got involved. It was almost like the Pharisees got political and tried to feel right by getting more "leaders" to back them up.)
(Matthew chapter 12 showed the Pharisees accused Jesus of first dimensional sin...which Jesus refuted every time. The Pharisees got worse throughout the chapter. At the end, Jesus told the Pharisees about a man who got delivered from an evil spirit only to have the evil spirit come back with seven more evil spirits. Since that exchange, we saw Jesus' fame grew to the point some of the masses believed He was the Son of God. The Pharisees, like the evil spirit, came back with MORE accusers...the Torah Teachers...which there were A LOT more Torah Teachers than Pharisees!)
"3 And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?"
(True Rabbi fashion, answering a question with a question. However, Jesus was going to teach. Notice, the pattern of asking a question and then teaching followed God's pattern of speaking through the prophets during the Old Testament. A person who was familiar with how God spoke in the Old Testament would have recognized this pattern with their Unaware Brain.)
(Jesus was defending His disciples...people who made mistakes. Remember, in Matthew 12, the Pharisees accused Jesus of first dimensional sin. Jesus was the ONLY person who never committed first dimensional sin. However, the Pharisees had never met a person who didn't commit first dimensional sin, so they believed they would eventually be right because they would eventually find SOMETHING every person did wrong. THIS belief in an "infallible technique" caused the Pharisees to get WORSE with each exchange with Jesus, instead of getting to GOOD. However, when it came to Jesus' disciples, these students DID commit first dimensional sin.)
(The issue is TRADITIONS. Traditions were held to be the finishing touch to Divine revelaton. In the Talmuds there are many statements like the following, "the words of the elders are weightier than the words of the prophets." Jesus' strategy to defend the disciples was to show these leaders His disciples ONLY broke TRADITIONS from men...these leders were breaking COMMANDMENTS from God. In addtion, these leaders were WORSE than His disciples because they were hypocrites.)
"4 For God said, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death."
(Jesus blatantly quoted God's Doctrine. Notice the TORAH references, for the Torah Teachers...)
("12 Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee." Exodus 20)
("17 And he that curseth his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death." Exodus 21)
("9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him." Leviticus 20)
("16 Honor thy father and thy mother, as Jehovah thy God commanded thee; that thy days may be long, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee." Deuteronomy 5)
"5 But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given to God;"
(Jesus contrasted God's Doctrine with man's doctrine. Here was what this verse said in the Complete Jewish Bible: "5 But you say, `If anyone says to his father or mother, "I have promised to give to God what I might have used to help you," 6 then he is rid of his duty to honor his father or mother.'" Basically, the Pharisees endorsed people SAYING they were worshiping God while they at the same time did NOT DO God's Commandment. The irony was Jesus focused on the ONE Commandment that was NOT a LAW...it was a principle. There was a benefit promised to the person who honored their father and mother.)
(God set up an "economic system" through this Commandment that stated the person ought to give to their parents and then God would give to the person. Notice, the person AND the parents benefited to the maximum. This was God's intent. Instead, the Pharisees changed the "economic system" to people giving to God (through the Pharisees?) and then telling their parents God would take care of the parents. This system resulted in the parents getting nothing and the person shortening their life. Why would the person go for this system? Either it was because they were really using the gift on themselves or they were deluded by the Pharisees into thinking that giving to the Pharisees benefitted them and their parents.)
(Some sources state children who did not want to support parents at this time used man-made tradition to evade the Law. The children entered into a deal with a corrupt leader for a small portion to dedicate things to God which ought to go to the parents. The children then claimed these things to be God's and not their own...which freed them from any obligation to their parents!)
"6 he shall not honor his father. And ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition."
(Jesus stated the result explained above. This system did NOT result in the father (or God the Father) being honored. Then Jesus gave His summary: the Word of God was made VOID. WHY? Because of your tradition. God could NOT stop people from choosing to do something that was Unprofitable.)
"7 Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
8 This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men."
("13 And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been taught them;" Isaiah 29)
(Jesus was doing the two dimensional model. He was taking the Pharisees' and Torah Teachers' actions and sayings...and redirected them back with a question and information so the Pharisees and Torah Teachers had to consciously deal with their SAY and DO.)
"10 And he called to him the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:"
(WOW! Jesus taught past the leaders and went directly to the people...He was CALLING the multitude to Him. Was He indirectly teaching the Pharisees and Torah Teachers?)
"11 Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man."
(Was this a parable? Was this direct? Can you picture what Jesus was saying? Do you need a drawing with arrows? I may be able to find one of those somewhere...)
"12 Then came the disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?"
(Jesus LATER got a report from His disciples the Pharisees were NOT happy...like the Pharisees and Torah Teachers tried to scare His disciples...another classic political ploy.)
"13 But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up.
14 Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit."
("21 Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified." Isaiah 60)
(Jesus made another statement. Was this also direct or indirect?)
"15 And Peter answered and said unto him, Declare unto us the parable."
(Peter identified all of this was a parable!)
"16 And he said, Are ye also even yet without understanding?"
(Ouch!!! Notice, Jesus spoke tough words to Peter in front of everyone...)
"17 Perceive ye not, that whatsoever goeth into the mouth passeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man.
19 For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings:
20 these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man."
(Jesus just explained the dimensional models! The arrows for His first example went from the outside to the mouth, from the mouth to the stomach, from the stomach out the...well, you get the picture. The second example has the arrows going from the heart to the mouth, from the mouth out to the world, from the world BACK ONTO THE PERSON.)
"21 And Jesus went out thence, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon."
(Again, Jesus withdrew. However, He went back to the cities that He cursed in Matthew 11:22.)
SUMMARY
It looks like Matthew presented his own two dimensional model...
Jesus taught truth directly (Matthew 5-7), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare (Matthew 8-9), commissioned His disciples (Matthew 10-11), His fame grew (Matthew 11-12), and the Pharisees accused Jesus (Matthew 12).
Jesus taught truth indirectly to the masses (Matthew 13), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare with miracles involving the masses (Matthew 14), His fame grew to even Herod (Matthew 14), and the Pharisees and the Torah Teachers accused Jesus indirectly...through His disciples (Matthew 15).
Sounds like it was time for Matthew's presentation of the third dimension...Jesus teaching and performing Offensive Spiritual Warfare to a deeper degree.
Are you ready to go deeper?
Next Post
Jesus had commissioned the disciples. Jesus continued to train His disciples by seeing how they reacted to another storm while in the boat and Him having walked on water.
Peter's act of leadership inspired the rest of the disciples to worship Jesus as the Son of God.
The people they encountered when they got out of the boat also worshipped Jesus as the Son of God.
Matthew chapter 14 showed Jesus' fame increased to the point people were now recognizing Him as the Son of God...as someone with the ability to do miracles.
MATTHEW 15
"1 Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying,
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread."
(Remember, "scribes" means Torah Teachers.)
(Now, Pharisees and Torah Teachers came to Jesus and accused His disciples. Notice how this ramped up. Jesus did not look for these leaders, they sought out Him. Also, the Torah Teachers got involved. It was almost like the Pharisees got political and tried to feel right by getting more "leaders" to back them up.)
(Matthew chapter 12 showed the Pharisees accused Jesus of first dimensional sin...which Jesus refuted every time. The Pharisees got worse throughout the chapter. At the end, Jesus told the Pharisees about a man who got delivered from an evil spirit only to have the evil spirit come back with seven more evil spirits. Since that exchange, we saw Jesus' fame grew to the point some of the masses believed He was the Son of God. The Pharisees, like the evil spirit, came back with MORE accusers...the Torah Teachers...which there were A LOT more Torah Teachers than Pharisees!)
"3 And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?"
(True Rabbi fashion, answering a question with a question. However, Jesus was going to teach. Notice, the pattern of asking a question and then teaching followed God's pattern of speaking through the prophets during the Old Testament. A person who was familiar with how God spoke in the Old Testament would have recognized this pattern with their Unaware Brain.)
(Jesus was defending His disciples...people who made mistakes. Remember, in Matthew 12, the Pharisees accused Jesus of first dimensional sin. Jesus was the ONLY person who never committed first dimensional sin. However, the Pharisees had never met a person who didn't commit first dimensional sin, so they believed they would eventually be right because they would eventually find SOMETHING every person did wrong. THIS belief in an "infallible technique" caused the Pharisees to get WORSE with each exchange with Jesus, instead of getting to GOOD. However, when it came to Jesus' disciples, these students DID commit first dimensional sin.)
(The issue is TRADITIONS. Traditions were held to be the finishing touch to Divine revelaton. In the Talmuds there are many statements like the following, "the words of the elders are weightier than the words of the prophets." Jesus' strategy to defend the disciples was to show these leaders His disciples ONLY broke TRADITIONS from men...these leders were breaking COMMANDMENTS from God. In addtion, these leaders were WORSE than His disciples because they were hypocrites.)
"4 For God said, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death."
(Jesus blatantly quoted God's Doctrine. Notice the TORAH references, for the Torah Teachers...)
("12 Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee." Exodus 20)
("17 And he that curseth his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death." Exodus 21)
("9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him." Leviticus 20)
("16 Honor thy father and thy mother, as Jehovah thy God commanded thee; that thy days may be long, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee." Deuteronomy 5)
"5 But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given to God;"
(Jesus contrasted God's Doctrine with man's doctrine. Here was what this verse said in the Complete Jewish Bible: "5 But you say, `If anyone says to his father or mother, "I have promised to give to God what I might have used to help you," 6 then he is rid of his duty to honor his father or mother.'" Basically, the Pharisees endorsed people SAYING they were worshiping God while they at the same time did NOT DO God's Commandment. The irony was Jesus focused on the ONE Commandment that was NOT a LAW...it was a principle. There was a benefit promised to the person who honored their father and mother.)
(God set up an "economic system" through this Commandment that stated the person ought to give to their parents and then God would give to the person. Notice, the person AND the parents benefited to the maximum. This was God's intent. Instead, the Pharisees changed the "economic system" to people giving to God (through the Pharisees?) and then telling their parents God would take care of the parents. This system resulted in the parents getting nothing and the person shortening their life. Why would the person go for this system? Either it was because they were really using the gift on themselves or they were deluded by the Pharisees into thinking that giving to the Pharisees benefitted them and their parents.)
(Some sources state children who did not want to support parents at this time used man-made tradition to evade the Law. The children entered into a deal with a corrupt leader for a small portion to dedicate things to God which ought to go to the parents. The children then claimed these things to be God's and not their own...which freed them from any obligation to their parents!)
"6 he shall not honor his father. And ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition."
(Jesus stated the result explained above. This system did NOT result in the father (or God the Father) being honored. Then Jesus gave His summary: the Word of God was made VOID. WHY? Because of your tradition. God could NOT stop people from choosing to do something that was Unprofitable.)
"7 Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
8 This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men."
("13 And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been taught them;" Isaiah 29)
(Jesus was doing the two dimensional model. He was taking the Pharisees' and Torah Teachers' actions and sayings...and redirected them back with a question and information so the Pharisees and Torah Teachers had to consciously deal with their SAY and DO.)
"10 And he called to him the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:"
(WOW! Jesus taught past the leaders and went directly to the people...He was CALLING the multitude to Him. Was He indirectly teaching the Pharisees and Torah Teachers?)
"11 Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man."
(Was this a parable? Was this direct? Can you picture what Jesus was saying? Do you need a drawing with arrows? I may be able to find one of those somewhere...)
"12 Then came the disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?"
(Jesus LATER got a report from His disciples the Pharisees were NOT happy...like the Pharisees and Torah Teachers tried to scare His disciples...another classic political ploy.)
"13 But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up.
14 Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit."
("21 Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified." Isaiah 60)
(Jesus made another statement. Was this also direct or indirect?)
"15 And Peter answered and said unto him, Declare unto us the parable."
(Peter identified all of this was a parable!)
"16 And he said, Are ye also even yet without understanding?"
(Ouch!!! Notice, Jesus spoke tough words to Peter in front of everyone...)
"17 Perceive ye not, that whatsoever goeth into the mouth passeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man.
19 For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings:
20 these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man."
(Jesus just explained the dimensional models! The arrows for His first example went from the outside to the mouth, from the mouth to the stomach, from the stomach out the...well, you get the picture. The second example has the arrows going from the heart to the mouth, from the mouth out to the world, from the world BACK ONTO THE PERSON.)
"21 And Jesus went out thence, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon."
(Again, Jesus withdrew. However, He went back to the cities that He cursed in Matthew 11:22.)
SUMMARY
It looks like Matthew presented his own two dimensional model...
Jesus taught truth directly (Matthew 5-7), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare (Matthew 8-9), commissioned His disciples (Matthew 10-11), His fame grew (Matthew 11-12), and the Pharisees accused Jesus (Matthew 12).
Jesus taught truth indirectly to the masses (Matthew 13), did Offensive Spiritual Warfare with miracles involving the masses (Matthew 14), His fame grew to even Herod (Matthew 14), and the Pharisees and the Torah Teachers accused Jesus indirectly...through His disciples (Matthew 15).
Sounds like it was time for Matthew's presentation of the third dimension...Jesus teaching and performing Offensive Spiritual Warfare to a deeper degree.
Are you ready to go deeper?
Next Post
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Matthew 14:23-36
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered Matthew 14:13-23. Here is the summary:
Jesus finished this story where He began...alone praying. The multitudes interrupted His time to be alone and pray about John the Baptist's death. Jesus had compassion on the multitudes and facilitated THEIR Purpose and Progress COMPLETELY with a miracle...then He returned to finish what He had begun.
Jesus had commissioned the disciples. Jesus fed the five thousand, which showed us Jesus was focused on training His students.
MATTHEW 14:23-36
"23 And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain apart to pray: and when even was come, he was there alone."
(We ended the previous post with this verse. In that post, we saw when Jesus was interrupted, He focused on facilitating the Purpose and Progress of others before getting back to being alone and praying. Jesus sent the disciples in a boat to the other side. It was night...)
"24 But the boat was now in the midst of the sea, distressed by the waves; for the wind was contrary."
(ALL the disciples were in THE boat. The waves were distressing the boat. Remember Matthew 8...the chapter where Jesus performed every general kind of Offensive Spiritual Warfare including rebuking the wind and the seas when the waves were washing into the boat? Looks like it happened again, this time Jesus was NOT with them. Was this another example of Jesus' focused on training His students?)
"25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came unto them, walking upon the sea."
(The Jews divided the night into three parts of four hours each. The Romans divided the night into four parts of three hours each. The fourth watch would be 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM. During this time, Jesus was out for a late night stroll on the water. In the previous post, we saw Jesus multiplying bread was a miracle that had been done before. This miracle of walking on water had never been done before.)
"26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."
(It was a superstition that if you saw a phantom or ghost while on the water, it was a sign of an impending shipwreck. Perhaps, this was what the disciples had in mind when they cried out for fear. The disciples feared and Jesus SPOKE to them. I like how He first spoke something for them to DO, then He gave a reason, then He spoke of what NOT to DO.)
"28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the waters.
29 And he said, Come. And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus."
(Peter spoke an IF/THEN to Jesus...and Jesus complied. Notice, Peter ALSO walked upon water. Whenever someone makes a comment about someone thinking they can walk on water or that only one person has ever been able to walk on water, I like to remind them of Peter.)
(A friend of mine, Wayne Swokowski, likes to say, "Someone had to be first." This story was another example Peter was a leader...he took the responsibility of being first. Did Peter's example inspire the rest or not?)
"30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
(There's the doctrine! Peter was walking on water when he kept his eyes on Jesus. Look at the causal chain: Peter looked at the wind, which made him afraid, which caused him to sink, which made him cry out. Jesus immediately saved him and then asked a Question...Why did you doubt? The issue was having little faith...not proving in actions that he believed in something he had experience in! More specifically, the word for doubt is "distadzo" which means to waver mentally.)
(Technically, there was another miracle here: Jesus remained ON the water WHILE He saved Peter FROM the water.)
"32 And when they were gone up into the boat, the wind ceased."
(The wind ceased immediately when they got in the boat...almost like the purpose of the wind was to illustrate this doctrine of faith. We've seen Jesus had command of the weather while in a boat with the disciples during the Offensive Spiritual Warfare chapter...Matthew 8.)
"33 And they that were in the boat worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God."
(DING! DING! DING! This is a huge verse. ALL the disciples WORSHIPPED Jesus and confessed Jesus is the Son of God...even Judas! How can someone believe in "once saved always saved", when the Bible recorded Judas worshipped Jesus AND DID NOT get into heaven?)
(Notice, Peter's act of leadership also increased the faith of the rest of the disciples in Jesus to the point they worshipped Him. They could see what was possible if they stayed focus on Jesus...because Peter FIRST gave an example.)
"34 And when they had crossed over, they came to the land, unto Gennesaret.
35 And when the men of that place knew him, they sent into all that region round about, and brought unto him all that were sick,
36 and they besought him that they might only touch the border of his garment: and as many as touched were made whole."
(Jesus' fame increased. People intentionally brought others to Jesus to get healed. We already covered the border of His garment. Dave Taube showed us this was a confession that Jesus is the Messiah...just like the disciples stated in the boat!)
SUMMARY
Jesus had commissioned the disciples. Jesus continued to train His disciples by seeing how they reacted to another storm while in the boat and Him having walked on water.
Peter's act of leadership inspired the rest of the disciples to worship Jesus as the Son of God.
The people they encountered when they got out of the boat also worshipped Jesus as the Son of God.
Matthew chapter 14 showed Jesus' fame increased to the point people were now recognizing Him as the Son of God...as someone with the ability to do miracles.
Next Post
Jesus finished this story where He began...alone praying. The multitudes interrupted His time to be alone and pray about John the Baptist's death. Jesus had compassion on the multitudes and facilitated THEIR Purpose and Progress COMPLETELY with a miracle...then He returned to finish what He had begun.
Jesus had commissioned the disciples. Jesus fed the five thousand, which showed us Jesus was focused on training His students.
MATTHEW 14:23-36
"23 And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain apart to pray: and when even was come, he was there alone."
(We ended the previous post with this verse. In that post, we saw when Jesus was interrupted, He focused on facilitating the Purpose and Progress of others before getting back to being alone and praying. Jesus sent the disciples in a boat to the other side. It was night...)
"24 But the boat was now in the midst of the sea, distressed by the waves; for the wind was contrary."
(ALL the disciples were in THE boat. The waves were distressing the boat. Remember Matthew 8...the chapter where Jesus performed every general kind of Offensive Spiritual Warfare including rebuking the wind and the seas when the waves were washing into the boat? Looks like it happened again, this time Jesus was NOT with them. Was this another example of Jesus' focused on training His students?)
"25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came unto them, walking upon the sea."
(The Jews divided the night into three parts of four hours each. The Romans divided the night into four parts of three hours each. The fourth watch would be 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM. During this time, Jesus was out for a late night stroll on the water. In the previous post, we saw Jesus multiplying bread was a miracle that had been done before. This miracle of walking on water had never been done before.)
"26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."
(It was a superstition that if you saw a phantom or ghost while on the water, it was a sign of an impending shipwreck. Perhaps, this was what the disciples had in mind when they cried out for fear. The disciples feared and Jesus SPOKE to them. I like how He first spoke something for them to DO, then He gave a reason, then He spoke of what NOT to DO.)
"28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the waters.
29 And he said, Come. And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus."
(Peter spoke an IF/THEN to Jesus...and Jesus complied. Notice, Peter ALSO walked upon water. Whenever someone makes a comment about someone thinking they can walk on water or that only one person has ever been able to walk on water, I like to remind them of Peter.)
(A friend of mine, Wayne Swokowski, likes to say, "Someone had to be first." This story was another example Peter was a leader...he took the responsibility of being first. Did Peter's example inspire the rest or not?)
"30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
(There's the doctrine! Peter was walking on water when he kept his eyes on Jesus. Look at the causal chain: Peter looked at the wind, which made him afraid, which caused him to sink, which made him cry out. Jesus immediately saved him and then asked a Question...Why did you doubt? The issue was having little faith...not proving in actions that he believed in something he had experience in! More specifically, the word for doubt is "distadzo" which means to waver mentally.)
(Technically, there was another miracle here: Jesus remained ON the water WHILE He saved Peter FROM the water.)
"32 And when they were gone up into the boat, the wind ceased."
(The wind ceased immediately when they got in the boat...almost like the purpose of the wind was to illustrate this doctrine of faith. We've seen Jesus had command of the weather while in a boat with the disciples during the Offensive Spiritual Warfare chapter...Matthew 8.)
"33 And they that were in the boat worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God."
(DING! DING! DING! This is a huge verse. ALL the disciples WORSHIPPED Jesus and confessed Jesus is the Son of God...even Judas! How can someone believe in "once saved always saved", when the Bible recorded Judas worshipped Jesus AND DID NOT get into heaven?)
(Notice, Peter's act of leadership also increased the faith of the rest of the disciples in Jesus to the point they worshipped Him. They could see what was possible if they stayed focus on Jesus...because Peter FIRST gave an example.)
"34 And when they had crossed over, they came to the land, unto Gennesaret.
35 And when the men of that place knew him, they sent into all that region round about, and brought unto him all that were sick,
36 and they besought him that they might only touch the border of his garment: and as many as touched were made whole."
(Jesus' fame increased. People intentionally brought others to Jesus to get healed. We already covered the border of His garment. Dave Taube showed us this was a confession that Jesus is the Messiah...just like the disciples stated in the boat!)
SUMMARY
Jesus had commissioned the disciples. Jesus continued to train His disciples by seeing how they reacted to another storm while in the boat and Him having walked on water.
Peter's act of leadership inspired the rest of the disciples to worship Jesus as the Son of God.
The people they encountered when they got out of the boat also worshipped Jesus as the Son of God.
Matthew chapter 14 showed Jesus' fame increased to the point people were now recognizing Him as the Son of God...as someone with the ability to do miracles.
Next Post
Monday, April 19, 2010
Matthew 14:13-23
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we began Matthew 14. Here is the summary:
Jesus' fame grew enough for Herod to fear John the Baptist had resurrected with special powers.
Matthew chapter 14 reinforced the uniqueness of John the Baptist among prophets while he progressed the story of Jesus' time on earth.
Jesus' fame was growing AND He was intentionally removing Himself from the MASSES...
MATTHEW 14:13-23
"13 Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from thence in a boat, to a desert place apart: and when the multitudes heard thereof, they followed him on foot from the cities."
(We ended yesterday's post with this verse. Remember, Jesus just heard from John's disciples John had been beheaded. Jesus intentionally withdrew Himself from people, most likely in order to pray. He also may have been avoiding the opportunity to get the masses in the cities worked up into a frenzy and get ahead of His timing for His death. However, we see the people intentionally sought Him out. Was Jesus going to further withdraw Himself or help the masses?)
"14 And he came forth, and saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick."
(Jesus had compassion on the masses. He postponed His time alone to help others. Jesus successfully performed Offensive Spiritual Warfare...He healed the sick, just like He did in Matthew chapters 8 and 9.)
"15 And when even was come, the disciples came to him, saying, The place is desert, and the time is already past; send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food."
(The Jews had two evenings. The first was around 3 PM which was the time of the evening sacrifice. The second evening was sunset. Could the miracle that occurred be tied to the evening sacrifice?)
(The disciples came to Jesus and said to send the people away so the people could eat. This was a solution to the issue: the people were in a desert and it was getting late. This is a huge point: Jesus could have sent the people away. Jesus did NOT have to feed these people.)
"16 But Jesus said unto them, They have no need to go away; give ye them to eat."
(Jesus INTENTIONALLY did NOT send the people away. This is a subtle point: Jesus wasn't in a situation where He lost track of time and then had to come up with a solution to a problem He caused...because He DID choose to go to a desert and did know people would follow Him...or do you think He didn't know people would follow Him?)
(However, Jesus ACTUALLY told the disciples to solve the problem HERE...to feed them. Remember, Matthew showed Jesus had commissioned the disciples. These stories showed Jesus training the disciples. Jesus' ACTUAL focus was on His students.)
"17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes."
(The disciples identified their supply, however, they used the word "but"...meaning they didn't believe it was enough.)
"18 And he said, Bring them hither to me."
(The disciples gave EVERYTHING they had to Jesus. They DID DO SOMETHING...something they were able to do. Jesus was NOT asking the disciples to do something MORE than they were able.)
"19 And he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes."
(Notice, Jesus was all about ORDER. Everyone sat down and Jesus recognized the Father in front of everyone AS He broke the bread. Jesus put the focus on God the Father. Then Jesus gave the bread to the disciples...NOT to the people. The disciples gave the bread to the multitudes. Again, the disciples DID DO SOMETHING...something they were able to do.)
(Subtle point: The Bible never stated Jesus prayed with His eyes closed. In fact, the Bible recorded six times when He prayed with His eyes opened, including this verse, there were: Mark 6:41, Mark 7:34, Luke 9:16, John 11:41, and John 17:1.)
"20 And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.
21 And they that did eat were about five thousand men, besides women and children."
(This was a MIRACLE. A miracle is a super-natural occurrence furthering doctrine. A miracle appears to break physical laws in order to convey spiritual truth...which is doctrine. What was the doctrine?)
(Actually, there was a lot of doctrine being presented and reinforced indirectly. The disciples gave, Jesus brought order, Jesus recognized the Father was the Creator, Jesus gave to the disciples, the disciples gave to the masses, everyone was supplied with bread in the desert from God until they were full (manna?), God OVERSUPPLIED to the point there was MORE than what they started with...Remember, Matthew 4? Jesus told the devil, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". Isn't the way the bread was handled in this miracle the way we OUGHT to handle the Word (both written and revealed) of God?)
(For the record, this was NOT the only time someone provided bread in a miraculous fashion. In II Kings 4:42-44, Elisha multiplied bread for 100 men. "And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. And his servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people, that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of Jehovah.")
"22 And straightway he constrained the disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side, till he should send the multitudes away."
(Jesus IMMEDIATELY sent the disciples away in a boat with instructions to meet Him on the other side. Then Jesus sent the people away. Jesus was STILL SERVING EVERYONE'S Purpose and Progress. Today, some pastors leave through the back in a car parked inside the building while their staff handles the crowd. Jesus did the OPPOSITE! He sent the staff away and handled the crowd ALONE!)
"23 And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain apart to pray: and when even was come, he was there alone."
(This verse had Jesus alone during the second evening. Less than three hours elapsed during this story.)
SUMMARY
Jesus finished this story where He began...alone praying. The multitudes interrupted His time to be alone and pray about John the Baptist's death. Jesus had compassion on the multitudes and facilitated THEIR Purpose and Progress COMPLETELY with a miracle...then He returned to finish what He had begun.
Jesus had commissioned the disciples. Jesus fed the five thousand, which showed us Jesus was focused on training His students.
Next Post
Jesus' fame grew enough for Herod to fear John the Baptist had resurrected with special powers.
Matthew chapter 14 reinforced the uniqueness of John the Baptist among prophets while he progressed the story of Jesus' time on earth.
Jesus' fame was growing AND He was intentionally removing Himself from the MASSES...
MATTHEW 14:13-23
"13 Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from thence in a boat, to a desert place apart: and when the multitudes heard thereof, they followed him on foot from the cities."
(We ended yesterday's post with this verse. Remember, Jesus just heard from John's disciples John had been beheaded. Jesus intentionally withdrew Himself from people, most likely in order to pray. He also may have been avoiding the opportunity to get the masses in the cities worked up into a frenzy and get ahead of His timing for His death. However, we see the people intentionally sought Him out. Was Jesus going to further withdraw Himself or help the masses?)
"14 And he came forth, and saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick."
(Jesus had compassion on the masses. He postponed His time alone to help others. Jesus successfully performed Offensive Spiritual Warfare...He healed the sick, just like He did in Matthew chapters 8 and 9.)
"15 And when even was come, the disciples came to him, saying, The place is desert, and the time is already past; send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food."
(The Jews had two evenings. The first was around 3 PM which was the time of the evening sacrifice. The second evening was sunset. Could the miracle that occurred be tied to the evening sacrifice?)
(The disciples came to Jesus and said to send the people away so the people could eat. This was a solution to the issue: the people were in a desert and it was getting late. This is a huge point: Jesus could have sent the people away. Jesus did NOT have to feed these people.)
"16 But Jesus said unto them, They have no need to go away; give ye them to eat."
(Jesus INTENTIONALLY did NOT send the people away. This is a subtle point: Jesus wasn't in a situation where He lost track of time and then had to come up with a solution to a problem He caused...because He DID choose to go to a desert and did know people would follow Him...or do you think He didn't know people would follow Him?)
(However, Jesus ACTUALLY told the disciples to solve the problem HERE...to feed them. Remember, Matthew showed Jesus had commissioned the disciples. These stories showed Jesus training the disciples. Jesus' ACTUAL focus was on His students.)
"17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes."
(The disciples identified their supply, however, they used the word "but"...meaning they didn't believe it was enough.)
"18 And he said, Bring them hither to me."
(The disciples gave EVERYTHING they had to Jesus. They DID DO SOMETHING...something they were able to do. Jesus was NOT asking the disciples to do something MORE than they were able.)
"19 And he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes."
(Notice, Jesus was all about ORDER. Everyone sat down and Jesus recognized the Father in front of everyone AS He broke the bread. Jesus put the focus on God the Father. Then Jesus gave the bread to the disciples...NOT to the people. The disciples gave the bread to the multitudes. Again, the disciples DID DO SOMETHING...something they were able to do.)
(Subtle point: The Bible never stated Jesus prayed with His eyes closed. In fact, the Bible recorded six times when He prayed with His eyes opened, including this verse, there were: Mark 6:41, Mark 7:34, Luke 9:16, John 11:41, and John 17:1.)
"20 And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.
21 And they that did eat were about five thousand men, besides women and children."
(This was a MIRACLE. A miracle is a super-natural occurrence furthering doctrine. A miracle appears to break physical laws in order to convey spiritual truth...which is doctrine. What was the doctrine?)
(Actually, there was a lot of doctrine being presented and reinforced indirectly. The disciples gave, Jesus brought order, Jesus recognized the Father was the Creator, Jesus gave to the disciples, the disciples gave to the masses, everyone was supplied with bread in the desert from God until they were full (manna?), God OVERSUPPLIED to the point there was MORE than what they started with...Remember, Matthew 4? Jesus told the devil, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". Isn't the way the bread was handled in this miracle the way we OUGHT to handle the Word (both written and revealed) of God?)
(For the record, this was NOT the only time someone provided bread in a miraculous fashion. In II Kings 4:42-44, Elisha multiplied bread for 100 men. "And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. And his servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people, that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of Jehovah.")
"22 And straightway he constrained the disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side, till he should send the multitudes away."
(Jesus IMMEDIATELY sent the disciples away in a boat with instructions to meet Him on the other side. Then Jesus sent the people away. Jesus was STILL SERVING EVERYONE'S Purpose and Progress. Today, some pastors leave through the back in a car parked inside the building while their staff handles the crowd. Jesus did the OPPOSITE! He sent the staff away and handled the crowd ALONE!)
"23 And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain apart to pray: and when even was come, he was there alone."
(This verse had Jesus alone during the second evening. Less than three hours elapsed during this story.)
SUMMARY
Jesus finished this story where He began...alone praying. The multitudes interrupted His time to be alone and pray about John the Baptist's death. Jesus had compassion on the multitudes and facilitated THEIR Purpose and Progress COMPLETELY with a miracle...then He returned to finish what He had begun.
Jesus had commissioned the disciples. Jesus fed the five thousand, which showed us Jesus was focused on training His students.
Next Post
Friday, April 16, 2010
Matthew 14:1-13
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we concluded Matthew 13. Here is the summary:
Jesus returned to the cities that rejected Him at first. The first time, the people didn't receive from Him at all. They were like the seed sown by the way side.
This time He taught truth indirectly through parables and did some successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare. The people were more receptive, however, they still ended up not believing. They let the worldly reality choke out the Word and works. This time they were like the seed sown among thorns.
Matthew chapter 13 focused primarily on Jesus' Words...on Jesus' change in presentation of truth.
Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed. He still taught His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed. Jesus taught truth indirectly...through parables.
Today, we will begin looking at Matthew 14 which focused primarily on Jesus' works...His miracles.
MATTHEW 14:1-13
"1 At that season Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus,
2 and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore do these powers work in him."
(We now have proof Jesus' popularity was great enough it reached Herod's ears. We also see the concept of "raising from the dead" was not a foreign idea to people of this time. In fact, it looks like Herod was still afraid of John the Baptist even though he was dead. Also, the miracles Jesus did were so awesome Herod's explanation was ONLY John the Baptist could do this AND ONLY after he rose from the dead with special powers! This just lends more credence to the thought John the Baptist was one of the most unique prophets because he was able to reach ALL the people...people in community (believers) and people outside community (unbelievers)!)
"3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife."
(Matthew did a flashback for us in order to explain WHY Herod thought John had risen from the dead. We now see the reason Herod put John in prison...because his brother's wife wanted him to.)
"4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her."
(John referenced two passages from the Torah:
"16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness." Leviticus 18:16
"21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is impurity: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless." Leviticus 20:21)
"5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet."
(Herod wanted to put John to death, except Herod was, like the Pharisees, afraid of the people. The people...the MASSES...considered John to be a prophet. Again, what other prophet had the reach John had? The power even after death?)
"6 But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst, and pleased Herod.
7 Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she should ask."
(I could put a comment in here about men watching women dancing erotically and giving them stuff while they are drunk...suffice to say, we have the same thing going on today. For me, a strip club is a reminder of the circumstances leading to John the Baptist's beheading...but that could just be me.)
"8 And she, being put forward by her mother, saith, Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist."
(This exotic dancer didn't want money...she wanted to please her mom. Is it because she had daddy issues? Oops...and I was doing so well. Her mom wanted John dead.)
"9 And the king was grieved; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat with him, he commanded it to be given;
10 and he sent and beheaded John in the prison.
11 And his head was brought on a platter, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother."
(John the Baptist had been killed beyond a doubt...yet, Herod was still so guilty he feared John had resurrected with special powers.)
"12 And his disciples came, and took up the corpse, and buried him; and they went and told Jesus."
(John's students took care of John's body and told Jesus. John was a GREAT teacher and his disciples handled themselves perfectly upon John's death...)
"13 Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from thence in a boat, to a desert place apart: and when the multitudes heard thereof, they followed him on foot from the cities."
(We will begin tomorrow's section with this verse. For now, this verse shows Jesus intentionally went away from the MASSES...and the MASSES intentionally sought Him out. Jesus' fame was growing...)
SUMMARY
Jesus' fame grew enough for Herod to fear John the Baptist had resurrected with special powers.
Matthew chapter 14 reinforced the uniqueness of John the Baptist among prophets while he progressed the story of Jesus' time on earth.
Jesus' fame was growing AND He was intentionally removing Himself from the MASSES...
Next Post
Jesus returned to the cities that rejected Him at first. The first time, the people didn't receive from Him at all. They were like the seed sown by the way side.
This time He taught truth indirectly through parables and did some successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare. The people were more receptive, however, they still ended up not believing. They let the worldly reality choke out the Word and works. This time they were like the seed sown among thorns.
Matthew chapter 13 focused primarily on Jesus' Words...on Jesus' change in presentation of truth.
Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed. He still taught His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed. Jesus taught truth indirectly...through parables.
Today, we will begin looking at Matthew 14 which focused primarily on Jesus' works...His miracles.
MATTHEW 14:1-13
"1 At that season Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus,
2 and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore do these powers work in him."
(We now have proof Jesus' popularity was great enough it reached Herod's ears. We also see the concept of "raising from the dead" was not a foreign idea to people of this time. In fact, it looks like Herod was still afraid of John the Baptist even though he was dead. Also, the miracles Jesus did were so awesome Herod's explanation was ONLY John the Baptist could do this AND ONLY after he rose from the dead with special powers! This just lends more credence to the thought John the Baptist was one of the most unique prophets because he was able to reach ALL the people...people in community (believers) and people outside community (unbelievers)!)
"3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife."
(Matthew did a flashback for us in order to explain WHY Herod thought John had risen from the dead. We now see the reason Herod put John in prison...because his brother's wife wanted him to.)
"4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her."
(John referenced two passages from the Torah:
"16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness." Leviticus 18:16
"21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is impurity: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless." Leviticus 20:21)
"5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet."
(Herod wanted to put John to death, except Herod was, like the Pharisees, afraid of the people. The people...the MASSES...considered John to be a prophet. Again, what other prophet had the reach John had? The power even after death?)
"6 But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst, and pleased Herod.
7 Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she should ask."
(I could put a comment in here about men watching women dancing erotically and giving them stuff while they are drunk...suffice to say, we have the same thing going on today. For me, a strip club is a reminder of the circumstances leading to John the Baptist's beheading...but that could just be me.)
"8 And she, being put forward by her mother, saith, Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist."
(This exotic dancer didn't want money...she wanted to please her mom. Is it because she had daddy issues? Oops...and I was doing so well. Her mom wanted John dead.)
"9 And the king was grieved; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat with him, he commanded it to be given;
10 and he sent and beheaded John in the prison.
11 And his head was brought on a platter, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother."
(John the Baptist had been killed beyond a doubt...yet, Herod was still so guilty he feared John had resurrected with special powers.)
"12 And his disciples came, and took up the corpse, and buried him; and they went and told Jesus."
(John's students took care of John's body and told Jesus. John was a GREAT teacher and his disciples handled themselves perfectly upon John's death...)
"13 Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from thence in a boat, to a desert place apart: and when the multitudes heard thereof, they followed him on foot from the cities."
(We will begin tomorrow's section with this verse. For now, this verse shows Jesus intentionally went away from the MASSES...and the MASSES intentionally sought Him out. Jesus' fame was growing...)
SUMMARY
Jesus' fame grew enough for Herod to fear John the Baptist had resurrected with special powers.
Matthew chapter 14 reinforced the uniqueness of John the Baptist among prophets while he progressed the story of Jesus' time on earth.
Jesus' fame was growing AND He was intentionally removing Himself from the MASSES...
Next Post
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Matthew 13:54-58
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered Matthew 13:44-53. Here is the summary:
Jesus stated several short parables to confirm the interpretations of the Reward and Salvation parables from the beginning of Matthew 13.
Jesus also confirmed He came NOT to do away with the Law, but to WIDEN doctrine. Jesus continued to restate His Premiere Teaching...
MATTHEW 13:54-58
"54 And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?"
(Jesus came back home. Jesus' Words and works were rejected by these first places. We saw in Matthew 11, Jesus proclaimed a curse on these places for not responding to His Words and works. Then Jesus taught in parables...and returned to His home. NOW they are astonished by His Words (wisdom) and works!)
(Notice Jesus' response to successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare. Did He celebrate the miracles? Did He jump up and down, give "high-fives", or chest bumps? Jesus realized it was God through Him AND the faith of the individual. Jesus didn't let His emotional state affect others. The same could be said for when Jesus knew the Pharisees were trying to trap Him or destroy Him. Did Jesus get upset, express self-pity, or present a "victim mentality"? Jesus stayed on an even keel emotionally. He didn't celebrate the successes...He didn't get in fear over the dangers. Notice, Jesus Words and works caused others to be astonished WITHOUT Jesus drawing attention to Himself.)
(In fact, we've seen He was disappointed in the disciples when they got too excited about success and too fearful with dangers. Jesus was the Ultimate MAN. Jesus was focused on causes regardless of the effects. What would Jesus say about current faith healers, pastors, and ministers who get too excited or angry while they are "leading" us?)
"55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?"
(This story followed the parable of the sower. The Word was sown among these people. It took root, but then they looked to the world and choked the effects of the Words and works!)
"57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house."
("Offended in him" means "caused themselves to stumble in Him". Jesus stated a prophet is without honor in his own country and in his own house. I can't find an Old Testament verse that is being quoted, so this was a conclusion from Jesus based on the Old Testament. People of the country and the house looked to the physical and did not honor the spiritual gift in a prophet.)
"58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."
(We saw Jesus stated the success of His Offensive Spiritual Warfare was in part due to the faith of the participant. Now we see Jesus was consistent because the lack of success in Offensive Spiritual Warfare was credited to the lack of belief. Again, this verse is another anti-Calvinist AND anti-"God can do anything He Wills" verse.)
SUMMARY
Jesus returned to the cities that rejected Him at first. The first time, the people didn't receive from Him at all. They were like the seed sown by the way side.
This time He taught truth indirectly through parables and did some successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare. The people were more receptive, however, they still ended up not believing. They let the worldly reality choke out the Word and works. This time they were like the seed sown among thorns.
Matthew chapter 13 focused primarily on Jesus' Words...on Jesus' change in presentation of truth.
Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed. He still taught His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed. Jesus taught truth indirectly...through parables.
Tomorrow, we will begin looking at Matthew 14 which focused primarily on Jesus' works...His miracles.
Next Post
Jesus stated several short parables to confirm the interpretations of the Reward and Salvation parables from the beginning of Matthew 13.
Jesus also confirmed He came NOT to do away with the Law, but to WIDEN doctrine. Jesus continued to restate His Premiere Teaching...
MATTHEW 13:54-58
"54 And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?"
(Jesus came back home. Jesus' Words and works were rejected by these first places. We saw in Matthew 11, Jesus proclaimed a curse on these places for not responding to His Words and works. Then Jesus taught in parables...and returned to His home. NOW they are astonished by His Words (wisdom) and works!)
(Notice Jesus' response to successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare. Did He celebrate the miracles? Did He jump up and down, give "high-fives", or chest bumps? Jesus realized it was God through Him AND the faith of the individual. Jesus didn't let His emotional state affect others. The same could be said for when Jesus knew the Pharisees were trying to trap Him or destroy Him. Did Jesus get upset, express self-pity, or present a "victim mentality"? Jesus stayed on an even keel emotionally. He didn't celebrate the successes...He didn't get in fear over the dangers. Notice, Jesus Words and works caused others to be astonished WITHOUT Jesus drawing attention to Himself.)
(In fact, we've seen He was disappointed in the disciples when they got too excited about success and too fearful with dangers. Jesus was the Ultimate MAN. Jesus was focused on causes regardless of the effects. What would Jesus say about current faith healers, pastors, and ministers who get too excited or angry while they are "leading" us?)
"55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?"
(This story followed the parable of the sower. The Word was sown among these people. It took root, but then they looked to the world and choked the effects of the Words and works!)
"57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house."
("Offended in him" means "caused themselves to stumble in Him". Jesus stated a prophet is without honor in his own country and in his own house. I can't find an Old Testament verse that is being quoted, so this was a conclusion from Jesus based on the Old Testament. People of the country and the house looked to the physical and did not honor the spiritual gift in a prophet.)
"58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."
(We saw Jesus stated the success of His Offensive Spiritual Warfare was in part due to the faith of the participant. Now we see Jesus was consistent because the lack of success in Offensive Spiritual Warfare was credited to the lack of belief. Again, this verse is another anti-Calvinist AND anti-"God can do anything He Wills" verse.)
SUMMARY
Jesus returned to the cities that rejected Him at first. The first time, the people didn't receive from Him at all. They were like the seed sown by the way side.
This time He taught truth indirectly through parables and did some successful Offensive Spiritual Warfare. The people were more receptive, however, they still ended up not believing. They let the worldly reality choke out the Word and works. This time they were like the seed sown among thorns.
Matthew chapter 13 focused primarily on Jesus' Words...on Jesus' change in presentation of truth.
Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed. He still taught His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed. Jesus taught truth indirectly...through parables.
Tomorrow, we will begin looking at Matthew 14 which focused primarily on Jesus' works...His miracles.
Next Post
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Matthew 13:44-53
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered Matthew 13:31-43. Here is the summary:
So far, Matthew 13 showed:
1. Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
2. Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
ALL of the parables appeared to be indirect ways of relating the direct principles Jesus taught in His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Today, we saw Jesus talked about principles directly WITHIN His group...to His students. Jesus talked about principles indirectly to everyone, both people inside and outside His group...to people who were and were NOT His disciples...just like the kingdom of heaven.
Are you a disciple of Jesus?
Can you handle truth directly?
Do you need to get your truth indirectly...through stories?
MATTHEW 13:44-51
"44 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls:
46 and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
(Jesus stated two very short parables. Both were Salvation parables. Notice, Salvation had to be INTENTIONALLY sought (hidden in the field, merchant seeking goodly pearls). It required ALL the man's HAVE...the physical was replaced by the spiritual. Notice, all a person had was different for each individual, YET it RESULTED in the same PEARL (Salvation). The person DID NOT create the pearl. They were responsible for seeking it out and giving all they had for it. They also gave it all with a great attitude...with joy...just like we saw with the earlier parables in Matthew 13.)
"47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48 which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away."
(This parable seemed to refer to Judgment Day...both good and bad were present. Notice, the timing is "when it was filled"...there is an objective end to the occurrence of this Day. However, this is a parable...truth stated indirectly.)
"49 So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous,
50 and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."
(Jesus gave the explanation...which was truth stated directly.)
(Jesus confirmed this referred to Judgment Day because He used the term "end of the world". Also, the angels' job is to sever the wicked from among the Righteous. This again confirmed the issue with reaping wheat and tares was NOT the reaper couldn't tell them apart. Jesus just said telling the difference between wheat and tares was their job and they were able to do it.)
"51 Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea."
(Jesus directly confirmed His students UNDERSTOOD the truth behind these parables.)
"52 And he said unto them, Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
53 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence."
(Jesus taught one more parable about the Torah teachers (scribes). When a Torah teacher was made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven, they had treasure of new things (Jesus) and old things (Torah). Jesus again confirmed He did NOT come to do away with the Law, but to WIDEN it...from old to "new and old". This was another way to say Matthew 5:17!)
SUMMARY
Jesus stated several short parables to confirm the interpretations of the Reward and Salvation parables from the beginning of Matthew 13.
Jesus also confirmed He came NOT to do away with the Law, but to WIDEN doctrine. Jesus continued to restate His Premiere Teaching...
Next Post
So far, Matthew 13 showed:
1. Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
2. Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
ALL of the parables appeared to be indirect ways of relating the direct principles Jesus taught in His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Today, we saw Jesus talked about principles directly WITHIN His group...to His students. Jesus talked about principles indirectly to everyone, both people inside and outside His group...to people who were and were NOT His disciples...just like the kingdom of heaven.
Are you a disciple of Jesus?
Can you handle truth directly?
Do you need to get your truth indirectly...through stories?
MATTHEW 13:44-51
"44 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls:
46 and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
(Jesus stated two very short parables. Both were Salvation parables. Notice, Salvation had to be INTENTIONALLY sought (hidden in the field, merchant seeking goodly pearls). It required ALL the man's HAVE...the physical was replaced by the spiritual. Notice, all a person had was different for each individual, YET it RESULTED in the same PEARL (Salvation). The person DID NOT create the pearl. They were responsible for seeking it out and giving all they had for it. They also gave it all with a great attitude...with joy...just like we saw with the earlier parables in Matthew 13.)
"47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48 which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away."
(This parable seemed to refer to Judgment Day...both good and bad were present. Notice, the timing is "when it was filled"...there is an objective end to the occurrence of this Day. However, this is a parable...truth stated indirectly.)
"49 So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous,
50 and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."
(Jesus gave the explanation...which was truth stated directly.)
(Jesus confirmed this referred to Judgment Day because He used the term "end of the world". Also, the angels' job is to sever the wicked from among the Righteous. This again confirmed the issue with reaping wheat and tares was NOT the reaper couldn't tell them apart. Jesus just said telling the difference between wheat and tares was their job and they were able to do it.)
"51 Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea."
(Jesus directly confirmed His students UNDERSTOOD the truth behind these parables.)
"52 And he said unto them, Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
53 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence."
(Jesus taught one more parable about the Torah teachers (scribes). When a Torah teacher was made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven, they had treasure of new things (Jesus) and old things (Torah). Jesus again confirmed He did NOT come to do away with the Law, but to WIDEN it...from old to "new and old". This was another way to say Matthew 5:17!)
SUMMARY
Jesus stated several short parables to confirm the interpretations of the Reward and Salvation parables from the beginning of Matthew 13.
Jesus also confirmed He came NOT to do away with the Law, but to WIDEN doctrine. Jesus continued to restate His Premiere Teaching...
Next Post
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Matthew 13:31-43
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered Matthew 13:24-30. Here is the summary:
The first two parables Matthew presented from Jesus covered Reward and Salvation, respectively.
BOTH parables showed:
1. Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
2. Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
BOTH parables appeared to be indirect ways of relating the direct principles Jesus taught in His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Today, we will see the spiritual explanation of the Salvation parable AFTER Matthew presented two more parables from Jesus...
MATTHEW 13:31-43
"31 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32 which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof."
(The parables in Matthew 13 seemed to focus on seeds. At the end of the Brain Series, I presented all the parts of the Tree Analogy. The water is grace. The leaves are the conscience. The breath is the Holy Spirit. The soil is the heart.)
(The seed is understanding. It has all the information in it to convert raw materials into something Profitable. In fact, the weight of a tree comes from the atmosphere...from the CO2 in our breath! The tree converts CO2 to O2...AND keeps the C which is carbon...which is what the tree is mostly made of. So, a tree is a physical result of an invisible source...just like us! The component responsible for converting the invisible into the physical is the seed. In these parables, Jesus said the Word of God is the seed. The Word of God is the source of Understanding.)
(This parable was short and made a straightforward point: the kingdom of heaven is the Understanding converting spiritual resources into something physically apparent TO ALL. The rest of the interpretation is either positive or negative. I will present both possibilities...)
(Positive: The kingdom of heaven may seem small and insignificant, but it eventually houses the believers in the new Jerusalem. The thought being only those animals with wings (believers) are able to attain the branches and lodge in the tree forever because the tree is alive and growing. Remember, this parable followed a parable where wheat (believers) was brought into God's storehouse. So, the good people could be in the tree and the bad people could be on the ground.)
(Negative: At most, a mustard bush in Israel was known to grow ten to twelve feet in height. This tree has become abnormally large. The devil is known as "the prince of the air", according to Ephesians 2:2. Birds are used to describe demonic/worldly forces. So, Jesus could have meant the kingdom of heaven is going to be corrupted by demonic influences. Ed Mabrie gives more thoughts in the comments section of this post.)
"33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened."
(Again, there is a positive and negative interpretation of this parable. Positive first...)
(I'm biased about this parable because I heard an awesome sermon fifteen years ago by Gerald Davis using this verse with the following verses:)
("1 And in that day thou shalt say, I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah; for though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away and thou comfortest me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Jehovah, even Jehovah, is my strength and song; and he is become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Isaiah 12:1-3)
("2 Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3 For I rejoiced greatly, when brethren came and bare witness unto thy truth, even as thou walkest in truth.
4 Greater joy have I none than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." 3 John 2-4)
(There are wellS of Salvation...more than one. We draw water out of the wellS of Salvation WITH JOY. Jesus said in the parable of the sower the Word needed to be received with JOY. How many wellS are there? What could we get out of these wellS that we need? John stated he had no greater JOY than when he heard his spiritual children were walking in truth...and John implied an effect of walking in truth...what he prayed for these people was they would: 1) prosper, 2) be in health, 3) soul prosper. Since Gerald Davis' sermon and the Brain Series, I have seen the three measures of meal as physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual. The kingdom of heaven OUGHT to affect the ENTIRE person.)
(One could also tie this parable back to the first one in Matthew 13 with 30, 60, 100 fold. Certainly, when all three levels are Profitable, then perfection is reached.)
(The negative interpretation of this parable is to see leaven as sin. The meal is the Word of God. When women are used in parables in a negative fashion, it is for harlotry...false doctrine. The three measures comes from the greek word "saton" which is about 1 1/2 pecks or a heaping bushel, the common quantity used by one baking for a large household...like in Genesis 18:1-6.)
("1 And Jehovah appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2 and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,
3 and said, My lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4 let now a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5 and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart; after that ye shall pass on: forasmuch as ye are come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes." Genesis 18:1-6)
(Here's the negative parable explanation: The woman HID the leaven in the meal until the whole was leavened. This means, the kingdom of heaven would experience deception during our time on earth due to false doctrine being introduced into the presentation of the Word of God. Later in Matthew, we will see Jesus said to beware the leaven of the Pharisees. Also, Jesus said the Word of God is made of NONE EFFECT by the tradition of men...by the teaching of the Pharisees' man-made doctrine.)
"34 All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; and without a parable spake he nothing unto them:
35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world."
(Wow! Verse 34 was BLATANT. "...and without a parable spake he nothing unto them..." Jesus had COMPLETELY changed His method (HOW) from His Premiere Teaching. He was still teaching the SAME WHY, however, the WHAT...the effect (the masses and leaders became worse from principles being taught directly) resulted in Him adjusting His method...His HOW (speaking principles indirectly). Again, verse 35 was another verse confirming we have access to things hidden from the foundation of the world!!!! IF we are believers! Be careful of people who encourage NOT knowing or encourage celebrating the mysteries of God. They are deceivers...wolves in sheep's clothing.)
"36 Then he left the multitudes, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field."
(We saw the disciples wanted the Reward parable explained to them...the Parable of the Sower. Now we see the disciples wanted the Salvation parable explained to them. I love Matthew's presentation. He showed the disciples were adjusting to this new HOW...and Jesus was willing to teach them principles directly.)
"37 And he answered and said, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
38 and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;
39 and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels."
(First, Jesus gave the "cast": Jesus was the sower of good seed (Understanding), the devil was the sower of bad seed (deception), the field was the world of people who CHOSE which seed to accept, the result determined if they chose to follow Jesus or the devil...and the result was OBVIOUS to all. The reapers were angels!!! So this confirms EVEN MORE Jesus was NOT saying the reapers may NOT know the difference between wheat and tares. The harvest was "the end of the world". Remember, this phrase, because it will come up again. For now, know when Jesus said "the end of the world" He was speaking of Judgment Day.)
"40 As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in the end of the world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity,
42 and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."
(Notice, Jesus said ALL the things that caused stumbling would be removed from HIS KINGDOM. The Kingdom of God/Jesus will have NO Unrighteousness in it. The kingdom of heaven has both. Again, the end of the world is when the Kingdom of God/Jesus begins and EVERYTHING that was Unrighteous is in the lake of fire...which is after Judgment Day.)
"43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear."
(Jesus stated the Righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of God. Again, the Kingdom of God/Jesus ONLY has Righteous. Also, the intensity of energy is like the sun. As we saw in the I Corinthians Series and the Daniel Series, The Kingdom of God/Jesus will be hotter than the lake of fire! We will thrive on the energy because we have better bodies. People in the lake of fire have worse bodies. It appears the coolest place in existence after Judgment Day will be the lake of fire! Nobody guards the gates of Heaven. No one guards the lake of fire. There is no need to do this...)
SUMMARY
So far, Matthew 13 showed:
1. Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
2. Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
ALL of the parables appeared to be indirect ways of relating the direct principles Jesus taught in His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Today, we saw Jesus talked about principles directly WITHIN His group...to His students. Jesus talked about principles indirectly to everyone, both people inside and outside His group...to people who were and were NOT His disciples...just like the kingdom of heaven.
Are you a disciple of Jesus?
Can you handle truth directly?
Do you need to get your truth indirectly...through stories?
Next Post
The first two parables Matthew presented from Jesus covered Reward and Salvation, respectively.
BOTH parables showed:
1. Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
2. Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
BOTH parables appeared to be indirect ways of relating the direct principles Jesus taught in His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Today, we will see the spiritual explanation of the Salvation parable AFTER Matthew presented two more parables from Jesus...
MATTHEW 13:31-43
"31 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32 which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof."
(The parables in Matthew 13 seemed to focus on seeds. At the end of the Brain Series, I presented all the parts of the Tree Analogy. The water is grace. The leaves are the conscience. The breath is the Holy Spirit. The soil is the heart.)
(The seed is understanding. It has all the information in it to convert raw materials into something Profitable. In fact, the weight of a tree comes from the atmosphere...from the CO2 in our breath! The tree converts CO2 to O2...AND keeps the C which is carbon...which is what the tree is mostly made of. So, a tree is a physical result of an invisible source...just like us! The component responsible for converting the invisible into the physical is the seed. In these parables, Jesus said the Word of God is the seed. The Word of God is the source of Understanding.)
(This parable was short and made a straightforward point: the kingdom of heaven is the Understanding converting spiritual resources into something physically apparent TO ALL. The rest of the interpretation is either positive or negative. I will present both possibilities...)
(Positive: The kingdom of heaven may seem small and insignificant, but it eventually houses the believers in the new Jerusalem. The thought being only those animals with wings (believers) are able to attain the branches and lodge in the tree forever because the tree is alive and growing. Remember, this parable followed a parable where wheat (believers) was brought into God's storehouse. So, the good people could be in the tree and the bad people could be on the ground.)
(Negative: At most, a mustard bush in Israel was known to grow ten to twelve feet in height. This tree has become abnormally large. The devil is known as "the prince of the air", according to Ephesians 2:2. Birds are used to describe demonic/worldly forces. So, Jesus could have meant the kingdom of heaven is going to be corrupted by demonic influences. Ed Mabrie gives more thoughts in the comments section of this post.)
"33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened."
(Again, there is a positive and negative interpretation of this parable. Positive first...)
(I'm biased about this parable because I heard an awesome sermon fifteen years ago by Gerald Davis using this verse with the following verses:)
("1 And in that day thou shalt say, I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah; for though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away and thou comfortest me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Jehovah, even Jehovah, is my strength and song; and he is become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Isaiah 12:1-3)
("2 Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3 For I rejoiced greatly, when brethren came and bare witness unto thy truth, even as thou walkest in truth.
4 Greater joy have I none than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." 3 John 2-4)
(There are wellS of Salvation...more than one. We draw water out of the wellS of Salvation WITH JOY. Jesus said in the parable of the sower the Word needed to be received with JOY. How many wellS are there? What could we get out of these wellS that we need? John stated he had no greater JOY than when he heard his spiritual children were walking in truth...and John implied an effect of walking in truth...what he prayed for these people was they would: 1) prosper, 2) be in health, 3) soul prosper. Since Gerald Davis' sermon and the Brain Series, I have seen the three measures of meal as physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual. The kingdom of heaven OUGHT to affect the ENTIRE person.)
(One could also tie this parable back to the first one in Matthew 13 with 30, 60, 100 fold. Certainly, when all three levels are Profitable, then perfection is reached.)
(The negative interpretation of this parable is to see leaven as sin. The meal is the Word of God. When women are used in parables in a negative fashion, it is for harlotry...false doctrine. The three measures comes from the greek word "saton" which is about 1 1/2 pecks or a heaping bushel, the common quantity used by one baking for a large household...like in Genesis 18:1-6.)
("1 And Jehovah appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2 and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,
3 and said, My lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4 let now a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5 and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart; after that ye shall pass on: forasmuch as ye are come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes." Genesis 18:1-6)
(Here's the negative parable explanation: The woman HID the leaven in the meal until the whole was leavened. This means, the kingdom of heaven would experience deception during our time on earth due to false doctrine being introduced into the presentation of the Word of God. Later in Matthew, we will see Jesus said to beware the leaven of the Pharisees. Also, Jesus said the Word of God is made of NONE EFFECT by the tradition of men...by the teaching of the Pharisees' man-made doctrine.)
"34 All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; and without a parable spake he nothing unto them:
35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world."
(Wow! Verse 34 was BLATANT. "...and without a parable spake he nothing unto them..." Jesus had COMPLETELY changed His method (HOW) from His Premiere Teaching. He was still teaching the SAME WHY, however, the WHAT...the effect (the masses and leaders became worse from principles being taught directly) resulted in Him adjusting His method...His HOW (speaking principles indirectly). Again, verse 35 was another verse confirming we have access to things hidden from the foundation of the world!!!! IF we are believers! Be careful of people who encourage NOT knowing or encourage celebrating the mysteries of God. They are deceivers...wolves in sheep's clothing.)
"36 Then he left the multitudes, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field."
(We saw the disciples wanted the Reward parable explained to them...the Parable of the Sower. Now we see the disciples wanted the Salvation parable explained to them. I love Matthew's presentation. He showed the disciples were adjusting to this new HOW...and Jesus was willing to teach them principles directly.)
"37 And he answered and said, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
38 and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;
39 and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels."
(First, Jesus gave the "cast": Jesus was the sower of good seed (Understanding), the devil was the sower of bad seed (deception), the field was the world of people who CHOSE which seed to accept, the result determined if they chose to follow Jesus or the devil...and the result was OBVIOUS to all. The reapers were angels!!! So this confirms EVEN MORE Jesus was NOT saying the reapers may NOT know the difference between wheat and tares. The harvest was "the end of the world". Remember, this phrase, because it will come up again. For now, know when Jesus said "the end of the world" He was speaking of Judgment Day.)
"40 As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in the end of the world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity,
42 and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."
(Notice, Jesus said ALL the things that caused stumbling would be removed from HIS KINGDOM. The Kingdom of God/Jesus will have NO Unrighteousness in it. The kingdom of heaven has both. Again, the end of the world is when the Kingdom of God/Jesus begins and EVERYTHING that was Unrighteous is in the lake of fire...which is after Judgment Day.)
"43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear."
(Jesus stated the Righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of God. Again, the Kingdom of God/Jesus ONLY has Righteous. Also, the intensity of energy is like the sun. As we saw in the I Corinthians Series and the Daniel Series, The Kingdom of God/Jesus will be hotter than the lake of fire! We will thrive on the energy because we have better bodies. People in the lake of fire have worse bodies. It appears the coolest place in existence after Judgment Day will be the lake of fire! Nobody guards the gates of Heaven. No one guards the lake of fire. There is no need to do this...)
SUMMARY
So far, Matthew 13 showed:
1. Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
2. Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
ALL of the parables appeared to be indirect ways of relating the direct principles Jesus taught in His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Today, we saw Jesus talked about principles directly WITHIN His group...to His students. Jesus talked about principles indirectly to everyone, both people inside and outside His group...to people who were and were NOT His disciples...just like the kingdom of heaven.
Are you a disciple of Jesus?
Can you handle truth directly?
Do you need to get your truth indirectly...through stories?
Next Post
Monday, April 12, 2010
Matthew 13:24-30
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered Matthew 13:18-23. Here is the summary:
Jesus continued to teach THE SAME message as His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7). After Matthew chapter 12, Jesus taught in story form.
Notice, this parable covered many aspects from Jesus' Premiere Teaching...Matthew 5:10-12 is persecution because of Jesus (the Word)...Matthew 6 with various Reward levels...the end of Matthew 6 concerning the cares of this world...Matthew 7:17-20 speaking of fruitful...Matthew 7:24-27 hearing and doing the Word.
This parable was a Reward parable. People ended up with different levels of Reward.
Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
MATTHEW 13:24-30
"24 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field:
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away."
(Jesus spoke a parable of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven contains good seed (wheat) AND tares. Again, Jesus is teaching to both brains...another farming story to the conscious brain and another spiritual story to the Unaware Brain. The previous story was focused on Reward and was a restatement of His Premiere Teaching from Matthew chapters 5 through 7.)
(While we will see Jesus' explanation of the spiritual story in the next post, I will give some of it here. The man is Jesus. The enemy is the devil. The wheat are good people. The tares are bad people.)
"26 But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also."
(Notice, both good and bad people GROW together in the kingdom of heaven. They BOTH get sun and rain. Was this another way of saying Matthew 5:43-44?)
("43 Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy:
44 but I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you;
45 that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust." Matthew 5:42-44)
(Notice, the wheat is known by the fruit it brings forth. Good and bad are going to strive against each other for the sun and the rain. Was this another way of saying Matthew 5:10?)
("10 Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10)
"27 And the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares?"
(Notice, the servants of Jesus could ask Jesus questions!)
"28 And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?"
(Jesus answered! This was Fellowship. Jesus stated HE did NOT cause people to be bad...the enemy did. Again, this was definitely NOT Calvinistic. The servants asked another question about removing the tares.)
"29 But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them."
(Some experts state this answer means we can't tell the wheat from the tares...we can't tell the good people from the bad people. In fact, the novella showed the main character of Brian McLaren's "A New Kind of Christian" made this exact same flawed point! Actually, the wheat and the tares were apparent. They looked different. We saw the wheat brought forth fruit...it was Profitable. The issue was NOT that we couldn't tell them apart. By the way, was this the same as saying Matthew 7:16-20?)
("16 By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Matthew 7:16-20)
(The issue was WHEN the tares were uprooted, the wheat may be uprooted with them...the good people may stumble. This would result in Jesus being Unjust to the believers. Remember, Paul wrote the ONLY thing we ought to judge now is a believer putting a stumblingblock in another believer's path.)
"30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn."
(Notice, there were no worries about confusing wheat and tares at this point. In fact, the tares WERE gathered up first and burned...which meant they go into the lake of fire. Remember Matthew 7:19? "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.")
(The wheat was gathered and put into God's barn (house). Now, it appeared the main reason the tares weren't pulled up early was NOT that it would cause the wheat to go to the fire (Salvation), but it would stop the wheat's ability to be fruitful (Reward). This last verse showed the reapers could tell a tare from a wheat and even if the wheat was pulled up at the harvest, it didn't matter because it was done growing. We see Jesus would be unjust if He limited a good person's ability to have Reward...which is also definitely NOT Calvinistic.)
(Jesus mentioned "the time of the harvest". There was a right time to end this. Was this the same as saying Matthew 5:18? "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.")
(This parable was a Salvation parable. Notice, there were ONLY two possible results: burned or stored. Every wheat got the same result. Every tare got the same result.)
(Where this parable implied Reward would be the amount of fruit each wheat brought into God's barn...into Heaven? Was this the same as saying Matthew 6:19-21?
("19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also." Matthew 6:19-21)
SUMMARY
The first two parables Matthew presented from Jesus covered Reward and Salvation, respectively.
BOTH parables showed:
1. Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
2. Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
BOTH parables appeared to be indirect ways of relating the direct principles Jesus taught in His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Next Post
Jesus continued to teach THE SAME message as His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7). After Matthew chapter 12, Jesus taught in story form.
Notice, this parable covered many aspects from Jesus' Premiere Teaching...Matthew 5:10-12 is persecution because of Jesus (the Word)...Matthew 6 with various Reward levels...the end of Matthew 6 concerning the cares of this world...Matthew 7:17-20 speaking of fruitful...Matthew 7:24-27 hearing and doing the Word.
This parable was a Reward parable. People ended up with different levels of Reward.
Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
MATTHEW 13:24-30
"24 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field:
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away."
(Jesus spoke a parable of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven contains good seed (wheat) AND tares. Again, Jesus is teaching to both brains...another farming story to the conscious brain and another spiritual story to the Unaware Brain. The previous story was focused on Reward and was a restatement of His Premiere Teaching from Matthew chapters 5 through 7.)
(While we will see Jesus' explanation of the spiritual story in the next post, I will give some of it here. The man is Jesus. The enemy is the devil. The wheat are good people. The tares are bad people.)
"26 But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also."
(Notice, both good and bad people GROW together in the kingdom of heaven. They BOTH get sun and rain. Was this another way of saying Matthew 5:43-44?)
("43 Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy:
44 but I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you;
45 that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust." Matthew 5:42-44)
(Notice, the wheat is known by the fruit it brings forth. Good and bad are going to strive against each other for the sun and the rain. Was this another way of saying Matthew 5:10?)
("10 Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10)
"27 And the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares?"
(Notice, the servants of Jesus could ask Jesus questions!)
"28 And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?"
(Jesus answered! This was Fellowship. Jesus stated HE did NOT cause people to be bad...the enemy did. Again, this was definitely NOT Calvinistic. The servants asked another question about removing the tares.)
"29 But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them."
(Some experts state this answer means we can't tell the wheat from the tares...we can't tell the good people from the bad people. In fact, the novella showed the main character of Brian McLaren's "A New Kind of Christian" made this exact same flawed point! Actually, the wheat and the tares were apparent. They looked different. We saw the wheat brought forth fruit...it was Profitable. The issue was NOT that we couldn't tell them apart. By the way, was this the same as saying Matthew 7:16-20?)
("16 By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Matthew 7:16-20)
(The issue was WHEN the tares were uprooted, the wheat may be uprooted with them...the good people may stumble. This would result in Jesus being Unjust to the believers. Remember, Paul wrote the ONLY thing we ought to judge now is a believer putting a stumblingblock in another believer's path.)
"30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn."
(Notice, there were no worries about confusing wheat and tares at this point. In fact, the tares WERE gathered up first and burned...which meant they go into the lake of fire. Remember Matthew 7:19? "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.")
(The wheat was gathered and put into God's barn (house). Now, it appeared the main reason the tares weren't pulled up early was NOT that it would cause the wheat to go to the fire (Salvation), but it would stop the wheat's ability to be fruitful (Reward). This last verse showed the reapers could tell a tare from a wheat and even if the wheat was pulled up at the harvest, it didn't matter because it was done growing. We see Jesus would be unjust if He limited a good person's ability to have Reward...which is also definitely NOT Calvinistic.)
(Jesus mentioned "the time of the harvest". There was a right time to end this. Was this the same as saying Matthew 5:18? "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.")
(This parable was a Salvation parable. Notice, there were ONLY two possible results: burned or stored. Every wheat got the same result. Every tare got the same result.)
(Where this parable implied Reward would be the amount of fruit each wheat brought into God's barn...into Heaven? Was this the same as saying Matthew 6:19-21?
("19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also." Matthew 6:19-21)
SUMMARY
The first two parables Matthew presented from Jesus covered Reward and Salvation, respectively.
BOTH parables showed:
1. Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
2. Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
BOTH parables appeared to be indirect ways of relating the direct principles Jesus taught in His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7).
Next Post
Friday, April 09, 2010
Matthew 13:18-23
This month's Series is The Gospel According to Matthew. In the previous post, we covered the beginning of Matthew 13. Here is the summary:
In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus changed His approach: He spoke in parables. He did this in order to reach the Unaware Brains of the masses. Jesus found teaching principles directly only reached half the individual and the masses were able to "not hear" the truth because their conscious brain disregarded what had been taught by Jesus. Also, Jesus confirmed teaching truth directly to leaders of His time resulted in the leaders becoming worse. (We saw this in Matthew chapter 12.) Once Jesus had confirmed this, He could no longer do it without being guilty of causing them to stumble...so He stopped!
We will see Jesus then spent the next SEVERAL CHAPTERS working "Plan C". These are the passages most people quote from Matthew because they still reach us today...because we are living in a time where we can for the most part only be reached through stories (which is what Ayn Rand and CS Lewis wrote in the 1960's). Jesus let people decide if they were followers without disrupting the non-believers or causing them to stumble...
MATTHEW 13:18-23
"18 Hear then ye the parable of the sower."
(Then, Jesus gave to His disciples ONLY, the direct principle-based explanation of the "farming" story He told. This is the spiritual message. This is doctrine.)
"19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side."
(People who hear the Word of God in both of their brains AND their conscious brain does not understand it, end up losing the Word. The person may choose consciously to NOT hear and NOT see. The person may NOT be able to hear and see because they are prideful.)
(The Word is sown in the heart. The Unaware Brain has access to things put into the heart. The physical analogy for people who don't get the Word planted into their conscious brain with understanding is seed being sown by the "way side".)
"20 And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it;
21 yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth."
(This case covered the person who associates a positive emotion with the Word. This occurs with the completion of the Second Feedback Loop! This person has planted the Word in their conscious brain with a positive emotion. However, when tribulation (inside the person) and persecution (outside) occur BECAUSE of the Word, they make Unprofitable choices...and avoid the Word. WHY? Because just as they quickly and easily associated a positive emotion with the Word, they now associate a negative emotion with the Word...and want to avoid the Word. They have changed their brain with another completion of the Second Feedback Loop. It doesn't look like the person either understands the Word, is fully convinced of the Word, or has DONE the Word. This is analogous in the physical realm to seed being sown in "rocky places".)
"22 And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful."
(This case covered the person who plants the Word in their conscious brain, yet the cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches ("if I only had more money...") eventually make the Word Unprofitable because the person is living with contradictions. The thorns are seen as the world. Notice, the person BECOMES unfruitful...the person may appear to be Profitable, but over time (in the Long Term) they will eventually be Unprofitable. This is the same as completing the Second Feedback Loop with a contradiction, so the person is unable to access the Word during subsequent First Feedback Loops because of the endless contradictory loop.)
"23 And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
(Notice, this case is the ONLY case that mentioned UNDERSTANDING. The Word with understanding leads to Profitability. Hundredfold is perfect Profitability. I believe Jesus showed there are levels of Profitability...you can be in God's Will AND NOT be perfect. God's good (thirty), pleasing (sixty), and perfect (one hundred) Will.)
SUMMARY
Jesus continued to teach THE SAME message as His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7). After Matthew chapter 12, Jesus taught in story form.
Notice, this parable covered many aspects from Jesus' Premiere Teaching...Matthew 5:10-12 is persecution because of Jesus (the Word)...Matthew 6 with various Reward levels...the end of Matthew 6 concerning the cares of this world...Matthew 7:17-20 speaking of fruitful...Matthew 7:24-27 hearing and doing the Word.
This parable was a Reward parable. People ended up with different levels of Reward.
Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
Next Post
In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus changed His approach: He spoke in parables. He did this in order to reach the Unaware Brains of the masses. Jesus found teaching principles directly only reached half the individual and the masses were able to "not hear" the truth because their conscious brain disregarded what had been taught by Jesus. Also, Jesus confirmed teaching truth directly to leaders of His time resulted in the leaders becoming worse. (We saw this in Matthew chapter 12.) Once Jesus had confirmed this, He could no longer do it without being guilty of causing them to stumble...so He stopped!
We will see Jesus then spent the next SEVERAL CHAPTERS working "Plan C". These are the passages most people quote from Matthew because they still reach us today...because we are living in a time where we can for the most part only be reached through stories (which is what Ayn Rand and CS Lewis wrote in the 1960's). Jesus let people decide if they were followers without disrupting the non-believers or causing them to stumble...
MATTHEW 13:18-23
"18 Hear then ye the parable of the sower."
(Then, Jesus gave to His disciples ONLY, the direct principle-based explanation of the "farming" story He told. This is the spiritual message. This is doctrine.)
"19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side."
(People who hear the Word of God in both of their brains AND their conscious brain does not understand it, end up losing the Word. The person may choose consciously to NOT hear and NOT see. The person may NOT be able to hear and see because they are prideful.)
(The Word is sown in the heart. The Unaware Brain has access to things put into the heart. The physical analogy for people who don't get the Word planted into their conscious brain with understanding is seed being sown by the "way side".)
"20 And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it;
21 yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth."
(This case covered the person who associates a positive emotion with the Word. This occurs with the completion of the Second Feedback Loop! This person has planted the Word in their conscious brain with a positive emotion. However, when tribulation (inside the person) and persecution (outside) occur BECAUSE of the Word, they make Unprofitable choices...and avoid the Word. WHY? Because just as they quickly and easily associated a positive emotion with the Word, they now associate a negative emotion with the Word...and want to avoid the Word. They have changed their brain with another completion of the Second Feedback Loop. It doesn't look like the person either understands the Word, is fully convinced of the Word, or has DONE the Word. This is analogous in the physical realm to seed being sown in "rocky places".)
"22 And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful."
(This case covered the person who plants the Word in their conscious brain, yet the cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches ("if I only had more money...") eventually make the Word Unprofitable because the person is living with contradictions. The thorns are seen as the world. Notice, the person BECOMES unfruitful...the person may appear to be Profitable, but over time (in the Long Term) they will eventually be Unprofitable. This is the same as completing the Second Feedback Loop with a contradiction, so the person is unable to access the Word during subsequent First Feedback Loops because of the endless contradictory loop.)
"23 And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
(Notice, this case is the ONLY case that mentioned UNDERSTANDING. The Word with understanding leads to Profitability. Hundredfold is perfect Profitability. I believe Jesus showed there are levels of Profitability...you can be in God's Will AND NOT be perfect. God's good (thirty), pleasing (sixty), and perfect (one hundred) Will.)
SUMMARY
Jesus continued to teach THE SAME message as His Premiere Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7). After Matthew chapter 12, Jesus taught in story form.
Notice, this parable covered many aspects from Jesus' Premiere Teaching...Matthew 5:10-12 is persecution because of Jesus (the Word)...Matthew 6 with various Reward levels...the end of Matthew 6 concerning the cares of this world...Matthew 7:17-20 speaking of fruitful...Matthew 7:24-27 hearing and doing the Word.
This parable was a Reward parable. People ended up with different levels of Reward.
Jesus' message hadn't changed...the WHY hadn't changed.
Jesus' METHOD of delivering the message had changed...the HOW had changed.
Next Post
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)